Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Fall Racing Recap

Despite what the falling mercury, snow covered tracks, and treacherous icy roads, there are still a few days left of fall.  As my favorite season winds down and turns into my least favorite season, here is a recap of what I was up to this fall.

My fall racing season did not live up to the new high standards I set for myself last spring.  There were many factors that led to this, but the primary was the fact that I pushed my body beyond its limits in the spring, and I spent most of the summer getting my legs back under me.  In the excitement that came with reaching a new level of running this spring, I got caught up in wanting more and more.  It was not the best approach, but I learned a lot from it.  There is a need to take risks and put yourself out there in big races, but too many, too close together will make for a rough couple of months.  When you are running well, you often begin to feel indestructible.  As the results poured in this spring and I reached levels which I previously felt were out of my reach I just got too aggressive.

I realized I had really torched my body after racing the USA Half in June.  I was able to PR in the race and ran 1:08:04, but my hamstrings were shot.  They would have made functional guitar strings they were so tight, knotted, and strained.  For the next month or so, it seemed a monumental task even to roll my chair into my desk at work.  I knew things were really bad when I could barely break 16:00 for a low-key 5k in the Harrisburg area.  Despite all the warning signs, I pushed ahead on my training, thinking I could still get myself in shape to run 2:18 at the Philadelphia Marathon in November.  There was never a cataclysmic injury that forced me to take several weeks off - only a nagging weariness that forced me to have several 5-10 day stretches with no running.

Hindsight being 20/20, I should have taken at least 3 weeks off completely from running after the half marathon, but that is not how I am wired.  I could have even run very easy during my recovery phase.  Again, that's just not how I am wired.

Part of what makes me a good runner, my grit and stubbornness, is also my downfall.  I want the best out of myself on a day to day basis, and sometimes the need to recover gets lost in my desire to turn every run and workout into a personal competition hurts me, as it did this fall.

I finally got back to feeling good in September.  By this time, however, I had less than 8 weeks to get ready for my target fall race, the Philadelphia Half Marathon.  My workouts all fall were not spectacular.  Having learned my lesson all summer, I did not want to rush things in workouts trying to get ready for a race that likely would not be spectacular with even the best workouts.  My mileage hovered in the mid-80's and low 90's and I kept my workouts to threshold intervals with very short rest. 

As I prepared for the half marathon, I sprinkled in a few shorter races, with good results that led me to believe I was getting into good shape.  I raced the York White Rose 5 Miler with very little real training under my belt and ran 25:58 (to put my improvement since college in perspective, my 8k PR in college was only 26:30).  This race was on a tough course, and I definitely had to work for the final time, but it served as a hard effort to jump start my training.

As I continued building up for Philly, I put in a hard effort two weeks out of the race.  The Keystone Track Club puts on a 5k cross country race each year.  I went into the race with the goal to just run as hard as I could with no real idea of my fitness.  I came through the mile in 4:52 and never looked back, finishing in 15:19 on a tough grass course.  I believe I could have run at least 10 seconds faster with some competition up front to race with.  I've always felt cross country courses are at least 30 seconds slower for 5k when compared to a track, leading me to believe I was in at least 14:50 shape.  Not bad for 6 weeks of training and no speed work!

I did not really make an effort to taper or peak too much for the half marathon given my delayed start to training.  My race plan was to go out with the chase pack off the back of the Africans and hang on as long as I could.  As long as I could turned out to be 5 miles.  I came through 5 miles in 25:20 and feeling like crap.  Luckily for me, the toughest hills in the race still laid ahead of me!  I knew it was going to be a rough finish, and it did not disappoint as I struggled home in 1:09:22.

At the end of the day, although it was a terrible race, all it was was a hard effort to keep me moving on the right track to regaining my spring form.  I took a few easy days after the half marathon as a precaution, but the race did not really take too much out of me.  I got back to racing pretty quickly, running a good Turkey Trot in Palmyra.  I was surprised to find myself running stride for stride with a professional runner, Darren Brown at a small town turkey trot.  He kicked away from me with his sub 4:00 speed the last mile, but I ended up running 15:05 coming off a very slow first mile on a cold windy day.

The real highlight of my fall season finally came the first weekend of December at the Christmas Dash for Cash 10k in Chambersburg.  Here, I really gutted out an excellent race on a rolling course.  I finished in 31:01, very close to my track PR.  It was in this race where I finally felt like my old self in a race.  When I am on my game, I am able to relax for much of the middle portions of the race, covering moves of the runners around me, feeling in control of the effort.  I ran tough here, but ultimately came up a little short of another very good runner with just a little bit more finishing speed than me.

This last race of the fall really left a great taste in my mouth and was just the spark I needed to get ready to put in a good block of training for a spring marathon.  Despite all of the setbacks of the summer and early fall, I was able to get myself back to a high level.  I learned you can't fake a half marathon, and have more respect for the distance.  You won't see me going into a half marathon unprepared ever again.

As always, thank you to the Keystone Track Club, my fiancee, and my family for supporting this crazy addiction of mine.  It was a good season of racing that left me hungry and wanting much more this winter and spring.  Hopefully, 2014 will bring a real break through in the marathon for me.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Teamplayer

This weekend I had the most fun racing in a very long time.  On the schedule this weekend was the Christmas Dash for Cash 10k in Chambersburg, PA.  What made this race special was the chance to compete as a team with the other members of Keystone Elite and the chance to win a nice $1200 first prize to be split between the four members of the team.  My team was composed of Jeremy Brady, Katie O'Regan, and Rosie Mascoli.  Going into the race, we liked our chances, but knew there would be tough competition from Team Hydroworx who was led by two pretty talented runners in Brian Fuller and Mary Dell.

We got to the race early and warmed up together and talked strategy.  It was a nice change to my typical prerace routine which involves warming up by myself and getting myself nervous about the race.  This was different as all the talk about the team competition and who we needed to beat got me very amped up and ready to go out and race.  Going into the race, we thought that if I could beat the number one runner from Hydroworx and if Katie and Rosie could keep it close to Mary Dell and beat Hydroworx' second girl we would pull out the win.  As we stood at the starting line, I felt something that I have not really felt since running cross country or racing against Lehigh in the track dual meets - a sense that I could not let my team down.

The race started out as I expected it would.  I went straight to the front with Matt Gillette, a fine runner from Shippensburg who I knew would be very tough to beat.  He and I led the field through a very pedestrian first mile of 5:10.  I had no idea what to expect from the course as the only description I had heard of it was "rolling."  With no idea what was in store ahead on the road, I was content to keep the pace comfortable, surging a little to test the rest of the guys tucked in behind us.  Everyone seemed to handle the slight surges easily, so I did not try and push anything too much early on in the race.  We hit 2 miles in 10:12, coming down a hill into the Scotland School campus.  This was where Gillette made a significant surge to try and break open the race.  I have always been a poor downhill runner, and he seemed to gap me effortlessly.

It was at this time that Brian Fuller also went screaming by me.  I realized these two were significantly better downhill runners than myself.  I felt like I was going all out to even maintain the gap they had opened on me.  As the gap opened, I began to feel a little down on myself and had some negative thoughts.  I snapped myself out of it as I remembered the team competition.  I would not give up and let the rest of my team who was working hard behind me down.  I put my head down and went to work on the uphills that followed in the 3rd and 4th mile.

I gained on Fuller and passed him right around the 4 mile mark.  My split between 2 and 4 was a very fast 9:44, and I felt that I was beginning to gain on Gillette ahead in first place.  I worked hard on the uphills of the 5th mile and had the gap down to around 5 seconds.  At this point, all that was on my mind was trying to put as much ground on the runners behind me to help out in the team competition.  I was still trying hard to make up ground for the individual win, but just couldn't match Gillette's downhill running ability (the kid is 6'-6" so I don't really feel to bad about it).  I closed the last 2k of the race in 6:01 to finish in 31:01.  I really did not expect to be so close to breaking 31 for a road 10k as my track PR is only 30:48.  Had I been paying more attention to my watch I would have sold out a little more for those 2 seconds.

I finished 30 seconds ahead of the Hydroworx leader, but the race for the team title was far from over.  I turned into the biggest cheerleader in Chambersburg and started going crazy as I saw Jeremy come over the final hill several seconds ahead of the 2nd runner for Hydroworx.  I was running around yelling and cheering him on as he kicked in for 33:51.  I really felt proud of the fight he showed the whole race to bring in a solid #2 finish for our team.  Our girls then clinched the victory for us with two really great races.  Katie kept it very close with Mary Dell who is a national caliber runner and PR'ed by a ton to run 35:07.  Rosic sealed the victory by beating the 2nd Hydroworx girl by over 30 seconds in 36:27, another very good time on a tough course.

As we added up the times, we knew we had won the race.  It was great to celebrate the win on the cooldown together.  I had forgotten how much of a boost running for a team gives you.  Some of the biggest kicks I can remember while running came on the high school 4x8 relays.  With that stick in your hand, you cannot accept defeat as easily as without.  Running is such a solitary sport, and it can be selfish at times.  What time did I run? What place did I get?  Who did I beat?  But when you run for a team, there is a totally different feeling.  There's and extra fight in you and a refusal to be beat.  It isn't about you, but rather the team.  When I finished the race, I hardly cared that I had nearly broken my track PR on a hilly road course.  All I wanted to do was cheer for my teammates and see how they finished.

I was really reminded what I first really loved about running.  I started out in high school as a cross country runner only, and always ran my best in races where I knew I was counted on to help clinch the victory.  I actually believe some of my gutsiest races came when I was just a mediocre #3 or #4 high school runner on a good team.  In this position you just can't let the seniors down.  In college, I just never really had that feeling.  In a big invitational, I knew my team wasn't going to place very high and neither was I.  It just didn't seem to matter as much, and I missed the pressure to win as a team.  It just doesn't feel that important to fight for 120th or 140th place in a big time D-1 invitational.  Even in a big road race when you are running by yourself doesn't feel the same.  The "You are not beating me no matter what" feeling is a little harder to find (although the cash payout does help bring that out).  Growing up playing team sports has wired me much differently than athletes who have primarily focused on individual sports.  There is no describing the feeling of winning as a team.  My all time favorite team moment came when my Lafayette College Leopards XC team finally exited the Patriot League basement my senior year.  In a blizzard, our top three pushed each other the whole race and then turned to go crazy as the rest of our scoring runners fought to the line.  Finally not finishing last as a team felt so good.  Our pack ran so well that day because we knew what was a stake that day (the fact that there were Andre bottles in the fridge waiting to be popped after a good race might have motivated us a little bit too.  Andre would have been pissed at us if we finished last, and you can never let Andre down.).

There is truly something special about racing as a team.  Your time doesn't matter.  All that matters is putting it all on the line for your teammates.  I can't wait for the next time Keystone Elite toes the line together!
 (L to R): Jeremy Brady, Rosie Mascoli, Katie O'Regan, yours truly
 Money to the Cielin, Money Over Errythin, FBGM...you know the deal
The whole KTC contingent who raced at the Cash Dash

Saturday, November 23, 2013

I Pity You, Mr. Stafko

Last week, Chad Stafko wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal entitled "OK, You're a Runner.  Get Over It" with the subtitle "Running a marathon is hard enough without also patting yourself on the back every step of the way."  I won't do Mr. Stafko the favor of posting a link to his drivel, as I'm sure it has already far exceeded the number of readers it actually deserves.

In his piece, Stafko calls out runners for being insufferable, skinny showoffs.  He calls us out for having our own magazines, clothing, and even specialized stores in which to buy that clothing.  Worst of all, he calls us out for being proud of our accomplishments as runners.  I imagine he would like to rip that extremely obnoxious 26.2 sticker off of your bumper sticker.  Even worse, he decries the act of running as only a chance for the highly narcissistic runner to parade throughout their neighborhood rubbing their fitness in the faces of their sedentary neighbors.  I know this is the only reason I continue running and I am positive it is the same reason that gets so many runners out the door.

I cannot believe this article made it to the Wall Street Journal, but somehow it did.  This piece gives us as runners a chance to defend our sport against a highly ignorant American.  Running is so much more than a chance to show off, and this is what someone who has never given the sport a chance fails to understand.  Anyone who finishes a marathon accomplishes something to be proud of.  I have stood at the finish lines of marathons after finishing to cheer on my fellow runners.  After I finished the Vermont Marathon this spring in 2:22, I felt extreme pride in what I had accomplished.  I have seen pictures of myself as I crossed the finish line and saw my time.  The look of pride on my face is undeniable.  As I stood around the finish cheering on everyone else, I realized that every finisher had the same look on their face.

Maybe Mr. Stafko has never tried running and has no idea why people would do it.  I would be glad to offer some insight to this poor man.  I run because I love it.  I don't give a damn who sees me or congratulates me on a race.  I have loved to run ever since I discovered I had a talent for it.  There is no feeling in sport that compares to the freedom and clarity you can feel on a run, out by yourself and your thoughts, your body flowing over the ground.  Yes, training makes you incredibly tired at times, and there are plenty of times I question why I keep pounding myself into the ground.  The reason - that indescribable feeling of pride and accomplishment that comes at the end of a well run race.

Do we as runners toot our own horn sometimes?  Hell yeah.  Should we?  Hell yeah.  Runners are some of the most humble athletes I have ever been around.  I have played baseball and football.  Athletes in those sports do not compare to runners one bit when it comes to team spirit and camaraderie.  There is something to be said for the bonds that are formed between runners as they push through their training together.  You will never find a runner who will not sincerely ask another runner how their race went.  When we do this, we are not simply performing lip service.  We really care.  I would rather listen to a friend tell me about their great race than brag about my own.  We do not beat our chests and spew bravado like other athletes.  We simply perform the most basic mode of human transportation because it feels good.

When you view running through such a cynical lens, you miss a lot.  You miss the stories of injured soldiers and firefighters returning to the starting line, prosthetics and all.  You miss the story of a California runner who crawled through the final straightaway of the race, struggling to finish and clinch a state title for a team whose coach is battling ALS.  You miss the story of Joey Stoltz, a member of my club, who has battled back from heart trouble to finish several marathons.

So, to you, Mr. Stafko, I say give running a chance.  You could even stop into one of those silly specialty running stores.  I'm sure the workers of the store won't recognize you and would be more than willing to help you into a new pair of shoes and shorts. 

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Philadephia Half Marathon Recap

In running, like life, it is important to operate with a healthy dose of confidence in everything that you do.  The problems arise when that necessary confidence gets mixed with too much cockiness.  In my opinion, a healthy bit of cockiness isn't always a bad thing.  When I step on the line to race, and I look over at my competitors, I always think I can beat them (unless they weigh 110 pounds and hail from Eldoret).  I was not always so cocky when it comes to running, but in the past several months as I have entered the road racing scene, where seed times and past performances are not so well known, I find myself looking at all runners on the line with me and expecting to beat them.  I also have heightened expectations for myself as I continue to chase truly elite times.  It's ok to be cocky - and most elite athletes are - so long as you are prepared to back up that cockiness with preparation.

This Sunday at the Philadelphia Half Marathon, I just simply wasn't ready to back it up.

My training leading up to the race was solid, but there just wasn't enough of it.  The delayed start to serious training caused by the long recovery from the USA Half and the problems with varicose veins that affected me in August left me a little bit behind in terms of half marathon fitness.  Without sufficient long and tempo runs under my belt, my body was ready to shut down right around 10k - not good when the race is double that distance.

The race started out well enough.  The pack of East Africans jetted off the line, leaving the Americans to sort themselves out.  I found myself in an unenviable position of not really having anyone to run with.  There was a group of runners on sub 1:05 pace, myself and another runner running 1:06 pace, and then a wide gap back to the runners running 1:08 pace.  Early in the race, I decided the best opportunity to run well would be to try and stick on 1:06 pace with my fellow runner as long as I could.  The first mile was hit right at 5:00 and I still felt fairly good, but I could tell it was unlikely that I could sustain 5 flat pace the whole race.  I tried to back off a little to the 5:05-5:10's I was shooting for, but the runner I was with did not back off and chased down the next group ahead.  That left me alone at a very early stage in the race and put me in chase mode far earlier than I had hoped.  I maintained a gap with the group ahead of me and came through 3 miles in 14:55.  It was at this point that I began to feel the effects of running alone as I was not able to relax and get comfortable in a bigger group and just coast.  I kept things together reasonably well through 5 miles in 25:20 and 10K in 31:44, but the wheels were off at this point as I hit some inclines in Center City Philadelphia and University City.

My race ended for all intents and purposes when I hit the steep incline near Drexel University.  I felt like I was crawling up this interminable hill.  The 8th mile passed in 5:35 for me - essentially a crawl after previously running 5:00-5:15 pace.  The 9th mile was a little better as I coasted downhill past the zoo.  The 10th mile, however, was the real kicker.  I managed an abysmal 5:40 as I climed through Fairmount Park.  At this point, I did not really see the point of finishing the race, but dropping out of races is something I refuse to do so long as I am not injured.  To me, dropping out is a true sign of quitting on yourself.

Things rebounded slightly as I hit the final 3 miles along the river.  I managed to bring the pace back down to 5:15-5:20 as the hills were finally over.  I made a pact with myself that I would pass as many people as I could before the finish.  If there is one thing I hate more than losing, it is losing to people I know I should never lose to.  It may sound arrogant to say, but I expect too much from myself to accept losing to 1:09 runners when I know my ability lies in the 1:06-1:07 range.  The anger I felt about losing lit a little fire under me and I passed 3 or 4 runners before the finish in a final disappointing time of 1:09:21.

What did I learn from this race?  Well, for one, I learned that you can't fake it in a half marathon.  I am certainly very fit as I was able to run close to 5:00 pace for close to 5 miles, but being fit for 5 miles is nowhere near the same as being fit for a half marathon.  I do believe I was on the right track to running a good half marathon this season, but was just a few weeks and a few long tempo runs away from being really ready to race a half marathon.  I also learned I can't just step on a starting line and expect to beat everyone even though I have the ability to be highly competitive on the elite road racing scene.  There are simply people out there who are faster than me, especially when I am not on my A-game.

Overall, I can't be too displeased with the result of the race.  I got an idea of where my current level of fitness is, got a hard effort in which will only help me improve, and fought hard to the finish.  I am going to take a somewhat easy week to let my body bounce back a little bit from the race, and then get right back to training at a high level.  One good thing about only having 6 weeks of good training for this race is that my body won't need a very long time to rest before I can return to hard runs and workouts.  My next big race will be the Virginia Beach Marathon in March and I am very excited to try some new workouts as I get ready for another marathon.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Ready to Race!

I know my posts have been a bit sporadic the past several months, but my life has been very busy.  I've started a new job, bought a house, and have been working on planning a wedding with my fiancee.  Trying to squeeze in 90 miles a week with all that going on doesn't leave too much time for blogging about those miles.  All that aside, my training went very well as I prepared for the Philadelphia Half Marathon.

Last spring as I trained for the Vermont City Marathon, I was consistently putting in close to 110 miles per week.  I would have loved to keep my mileage at that level, but with everything going on, it would have just been too much for me.  I also don't necessarily think I need to run that many miles a week to succeed.  I have always loved running hard day in and day out.  Averaging low 6:00 pace for an entire week of distance runs is not uncommon.  When I was hitting over 100 miles a week, I was often too tired to train the way I preferred.  I believe toning down my volume to 80-90 miles a week with the intensity raised back to a level I prefer has the same benefits of training 110 miles a week.  I feel much fresher and don't feel like I am constantly on the verge of breakdown like I did this spring.

My expectations for the race this weekend are not extremely high, and I am not putting too much pressure on myself given the fact that I have had only 8 solid weeks of training leading into the race.  My training this summer got off to a late start due to how long it took me to recover from my spring races.  My legs did not feel good running until the end of August.  Part of this was due to over-racing in the spring and then taking on new responsibilities with my new company.  I spent much of July and August inspecting bridges in Maryland.  Being on your feet for 8 hours a day in the sweltering heat is not exactly good for the body's recovery!

But my body did finally come around, and my desire to train hard and race at a high level was as strong as it ever was.  My training was very simple.  I ran twice a day 3 or 4 times a week and took one day of decreased mileage.  My workouts were primarily aerobic - threshold pace intervals with short rest and tempo runs - and my training runs were run comfortably hard each day.  I believe this type of training has prepared me very well to race well for a half marathon.  I kept the rest very short on all of my workouts and felt very comfortable running at 5:00 to 5:05 pace.  I also touched on some shorter speed intervals at the end of my workouts and felt very quick which should serve me well for the later stages of the race when it's time to call on the fast twitch muscles to carry some of the load and keep me moving forward.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

#investinUSAtrack

One of my favorite professional runners, David Torrence, added his two cents to the debate over track and field this week.  I need to preface this post with a little back story on just what makes Torrence one of my favorite athletes.  Torrence became one of the favorite runners of my college team after we watched and heard the story of his journey from unattached post collegiate searching for his first contract to one of our country's best milers (by end of season rankings alone, his 3:33.23 is the 2nd fastest in the country this year and has won several national titles in the road mile).  David is an incredibly accessible athlete who takes the time to get to know his fans and interact with them.  At the 2011 New York Diamond League meet, my Lafayette teammates and I were lucky enough to meet David after witnessing his first victory in the Diamond League.  He was incredibly grateful for our support at the meet and did more than just pose for the customary athlete photo-op.  David further cemented his favorite athlete status two summers ago.  My friend Matt and I were in San Francisco, Torrence's training base and home.  We sent out a tweet to him asking to set up a downhill mile in the hills of the city (although since Budweiser had become the official drink of Matt and Josh's West Coast trip I don't know how well such a race would have gone).  He responded to us right away trying to set up a place for us to race a mile downhill.  Alas, my noob status on Twitter caused me to miss out on his direct message (who knew the direct message feature could be used for more than sending explicit pictures?).  I made up my blunder to Matt later in Eugene when Torrence was gracious enough to share several pitchers with us at the Wild Duck.  I believe the highlight of the trip for Matt will always be discussing South American politics and economics while slightly inebriated with a professional runner.

Torrence's comments on letsrun.com came in response to Runner's World columnist John Bingham calling on elites to show more interest in the back of the pack runners like himself and do more in general for the sport.  Certainly, Bingham believes that would make them beloved by their waddling, tutu wearing brethren.  I do not believe there could be a more misguided opinion.  Torrence is just one of many professional track and field athletes who does an incredible amount of work to interact with his fans.  Duane Solomon flooded my Twitter feed yesterday retweeting possibly every person who tweeted about meeting him at a cross country meet.   Could you imagine LeBron James trying to set up a pick up game with two random fans and then meeting up with them in a bar?

So, no, Mr. Bingham, track and field's problems will not be solved by having professional athletes wait for everyone else to finish their 5 hour marathon (sorry if I sound snarky here, but a marathon is a race to me, not a bucket list item).  Many athletes in the sport set up races where they live and make appearances at local running stores and running club meetings.  Yet, they still go unrecognized in almost every city in America (except for Eugene - a city in which I did not see a single person with a waist measurement exceeding their inseam.  Could it be possible that the sport is embraced there because the people are actually in shape?).

The answer is not simply sending our runners out to cheer on the average Joes and hobby joggers, because to most of them, David Torrence is just a skinny dude with a beard who maybe looks like he runs fast (or at least really cares a lot about looking like a runner with all those matching warm ups and fancy shoes).  What really needs to be done first is to build the athletes we in the sport (and I'm talking track and field here because road racing is an entirely different beast) follow and root for into figures that the average person would recognize or feel excited about meeting.  I don't really know how that can be done in our football obsessed nation where a man pushing 400 lbs. is considered more athletic than a runner like me, but since the only way we can get there and improve the sport is to try.  David Torrence asked his followers to contribute using #investinUSAtrack and here is my best attempt at investing in the sport that means so much to me.

1.  Ditch the meters.  We run miles here in the good old US of A.  I know everyone else in the world uses the metric system as does the sport's governing body.  However, if you want to be relevant in the US, you need to use units that most fans understand.  Yes, I know that 5,000 meters is 3.1 miles and that a 12:55 5k is 4:09 per mile, but if you race 3 miles instead, many more people would understand that a time of 12:30 is absolutely hauling ass.

2.  Add more domestic meets.  If you are a fan of professional track and field in the USA you have two or three chances to go to a really big meet each year.  There are two Diamond League meets and a national championship as well as several small indoor meets.  That's it.  If you don't live anywhere near Oregon, your best bet is to go to New York City for its Diamond League meet.  That's great for me since I live on the East Coast, but for most fans of the sport there are absolutely zero opportunities to attend a professional track meet.  Contrast that with the fans of a professional baseball team.  Those fans have 81 chances to see their team play every year.  We are never going to see 81 elite track meets in a season, but we have got to get away from sending our athletes to Europe every summer.

I believe adding more big races on native soil is the number one way to grow the sport in this country.  NBC and ESPN are never in a million years going to pay big money or use resources putting together a broadcast for a meet in Doha, Oslo, Monaco, or Rieti no matter the quality of the field.  I realize these are all very good meets, but if they are not happening on US soil, casual fans do not care.  Give more people a chance to attend a meet and I believe they will become more interested.  They need to see and experience the speed and feats of raw human strength track and field athletes are able to push their bodies to.  Live sports of any kind are always fun to watch for any red blooded male.  Domestic meets are also a great opportunity for young fans to discover the sport.  Track and field is one of, if not, the most participated in sport in high school athletics, but most of those runners will never have a chance to attend a professional meet.  As a high schooler, I could not have named five professional distance runners and I was 3rd in the state my senior year. 

The European meets work well because travel is so much easier between cities and countries thanks to their rail system (Eisenhower really screwed the pooch with that Interstate system).  Europe also has better stadiums for track and field given that many of their track stadiums also house soccer teams.  You cannot have a track meet in a 65,000 seat football stadium which we are so fond of in this country, but the small stadiums in Europe are perfect for hosting track meets.  We cannot either host meets in this country at small college tracks with basic metal bleachers.  That does not look professional; it looks amateurish.  The MLS has taken off with numerous soccer-only facilities.  These types of stadiums would be perfect for hosting track meets if a track could be squeezed in.

3.  Increase the emphasis on winning.  The "A" and "B" standards have got to go.  They turn most meets and races into boring rabbitted affairs.  Who could possibly forget the Oxy High Performance Meet or the Peyton Jordan Inivte?  These races are great to serious track nuts like myself who will sit in front of their lap top to watch a live stream, but they hardly register on the national scale.

It is difficult to run 13:00 for 5k without someone sacrificing themselves to make the pace fast and still try and race well.  Look what happens in championship races - no one knows how to race once the rabbits are gone leaving us with what are essentially one lap races.  We have become so focused on fast times that winning sometimes becomes secondary.  Would training suffer if athletes were forced to race more often?  Probably, but there is something to racing yourself into shape, and if the emphasis is on winning, then time won't matter so much anyway.

Instead of standards to hit, points could be accrued towards world championships and Olympics.  I love the idea of giving an automatic "A" in the 10k to the top 15 guys at World Cross.  It makes guys want to run it.  Runners could earn points by finishing in the top 5 or 10 in meets with quality fields.  I am not certain what determines a quality field - for example, a 5k race in which the mean PR of the runners assembled is below 13:15 could qualify as a quality field.  Runners in this race could then earn points towards qualifying.  This would allow runners to race to win, not hit a time.

4.  Be more open to talking about your training.  You're not guarding the secret formula to Coca-Cola.  You are doing workouts and running 70-130 miles a week.  See, I follow the sport extremely closely, and yet I still have hardly any idea exactly what it is you are doing.  If just a handful of professional athletes would openly share their training like Donn Cabral does, everyone would benefit from it.  I know I would benefit from being able to read the training logs of marathoners like Ritz and Teg.  High schoolers and their coaches who want to understand what they should be doing could learn and get better and the average person could see just how hard you are working and grow in respect of the sport.  They would see just how exceptional professional athletes are and have slightly more respect for a 2:10 marathoner.

Your racing results will not suffer, and if someone beats you it will not be because your training is posted somewhere online.  It will just be because they are better than you.

5.  Show some personality.  This one is directed at you Galen Rupp.  You know what I'm talking about.  You have interests outside of sitting in your altitude tent playing Fifa.  Or actually, maybe you don't.  But I'm sure there are plenty of other runners who do but we just don't know it.  Don't be a monk, post some goofy pictures of your Settlers of Cataan board a la the Schumacher group or make some ridiculous bets like shaving an eyebrow like Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson did.  If you get around to reading this Andrew Wheating, please bring back your Behind the Stands videos.  Guys like Torrence and Nick Symmonds have this nailed.

6.  Start a league.  Track and field needs a real, centralized league.  Track and field is a team sport at every single level of the sport except the professional.  We grow up competing on a track team starting in elementary school, through high school and college - why does it have to stop there?  The Diamond League is an after thought.  It doesn't even have a sponsor anymore.  Guys go all over Europe and run fast times at random meets that are not part of any bigger league.  It's awesome to run 3:33 or 13:10, but it is almost impossible to keep track of when the races will be run and where your favorite athletes will show up to compete.  The PGA Tour could be a great model.  It ties far flung tournaments all over the country into a circuit.

Starting a real league could go hand in hand with number two on this list.  A domestic American track and field league would be awesome.  Instead of guys running for Nike, they could run for New York, Boston, or Portland.  Let the runners put their names on their jerseys and sell them.  We would no longer have to watch a few indistinguishable guys in light blue Nike or red adidas kits lope around the track.   Team Schumacher vs the Nike Oregon Project could finally really throw down and use real team tactics against each other in a race.  How awesome would that be?

This doesn't just have to be an Americans only league either.  We have Dominicans and Europeans filling our baseball and basketball leagues.  Bring in athletes from all over the world to fill out the teams.  A league like this would be an incredible stride for track and field.  As it exists now, track and field is relevant to the majority of the world every four years when the Olympics roll around.  I love the Olympics as much as anyone, but they hinder the sport immensely.  Imagine playing the Super Bowl every four years.

Having a real league with teams would also help athletes take their fate out of the hands of the shoe companies and the national governing bodies who wield all the power.  There could be a union of sorts to protect the runners.  If you get a contract from a team with a general manager and a president instead of a company with a CEO there will be significant benefits in terms of stability and financial backing.

Seriously, if the WNBA can still exist, a track and field league can exist.

7.  Be Creative.  This is really the final point I can add.  There are so many things you can do to make people running in circle around a field more interesting.  The Olympic Trials in Eugene was an incredible experience and I never once felt bored in the stadium.  Fans were into the races, the festival atmosphere was great, athletes were accessible.  This could be replicated easily at other meets.  Why not have novelty races every once in a while in a non Olympic year or have a road race finish on the track as part of the meet and broadcast it on the screen in the stadium?  I saw a great race on Flotrack in which runners raced a 5k, but whoever was in last place at the end of each lap was pulled off the track.  Imagine what an epic race that would turn into if you got the country's 12 best 5k runners in a race like that.  Use all that body tracking technology that is being developed.  Monitor heart rates during races and put it on the big board.  It would be awesome to watch that as sprinters are held in the blocks or a chase pack gains on a lead runner who went out too fast.  The sky is literally the limit when it comes to ways to make professional track and field meets fun for even the casual fan.

Who knows - maybe track and field will always be a niche sport in this country.  We are after all the land of the super size Coke and the Dallas Cowboys.  Those of us who care about the sport cannot let that stop us from trying to think of any possible idea to grow the sport.  Track and field is a wonderful sport and it has done so much for me in my life.  I hope somehow I can return the favor.

What's Wrong With Track and Field (Part 2)

This post has been a long time coming, but I am glad I waited until now to start writing it since there have been conversations started by the decision of Competitor Group to cut its funding of elite athletes.  I wrote earlier this summer that the numerous doping scandals and cloud of suspicion hanging over our sport was one of the big problems hindering the sport's continued development, but it is far from the biggest.  The biggest problem for track and field is that the sport simply would not exist without shoe companies.  Shoe companies hold all the power in the sport, forcing athletes to essentially work as independent contractors.

Shoe companies keep the sport alive, plain and simple.  Not to say that cannot be changed, but in its current state, track and field would die if Nike decided it really didn't need its track and field athletes to sell shoes anymore.  Competitor Group decided it does not get enough return on its investment in elites, what is stopping the shoe companies from doing the same?  Does anyone really think that Nike saw a giant uptick in sales of spikes last year because Galen Rupp won a 10k silver medal in London?  Probably not.

I believe there is some benefit for Nike to associate itself with elite athletes.  After all, the only spikes I have ever bought have been Nike.  I'm no psychologist, so I could not really tell you whether I do that because I think they provide the best product or because I associate them with elite athletes.  A marketing guru somewhere in Oregon knows the answer to that question.

To avoid sounding too dire, I do not believe Nike or any of the shoe companies are on the verge of cutting funding to elite athletes.  Deep down I do believe there is some value for Nike being able to have its athletes all decked out in their Nike kits consistently smoking the adidas or Brooks athletes.  I believe we actually would see a surge towards a different company if its athletes were the most consistently dominant.  The problem, however, is that Nike consistently snaps up the best of the best America has to offer, and the power of their brand allows them to get whoever they want and pay them whatever they want.

We saw this all year with the sad case of Leo Manzano.  Leo is the defending Olympic silver medalist.  He is one of the most clutch racers this country has ever seen.  His PR's are not really all that impressive, and he often tanks in the rabbited Diamond League races.  But, when it's time to show up at a national championship or a world competition he always performs.  He has not missed a US team since 2007 (for those who don't realize what that means, Leo has represented the US at the 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013 World Championships and the 2008 and 2012 Olympics).  At a time when US men's mile running has seen the most depth and talent ever, one runner has risen above all the rest to make the team, and that runner is Leo Manzano.

That runner is also unsponsored, essentially unemployed.

This to me, should have been the ultimate wake up call for track and field.  Our country's first medalist in the men's 1500 since 1966 cannot find a job.  While I realize I was not privy to the negotiations between Leo and Nike, it still boggles my mind that a contract could not be worked out. 

This situation would never happen in any of our American ball sports.  Could you imagine an MVP caliber baseball player having to worry about not having a job at the end of the season?  Leo Manzano is an MVP caliber American runner, but he has no contract and therefore, no job.  Our ball sports have leagues and players unions and we have shoe companies.  Runners for Nike are essentially no different from any other employee for the global brand.  There is no union looking out for track and field athletes the way that MLB's players union looks out for its players and make sure they are getting a fair share of the league's revenue.  Anyone know where all of that billion dollar Olympic broadcast contract is going?  It's definitely not going to the athletes.

You would think the national governing body of track and field in the US, USATF would be able to have some impact in this situation, but they do not because they are in bed with Nike.  Nike makes a lot of money for the USATF.  Nike makes all of the officially licensed Team USA and USATF gear and buys much of the advertising at major US meets, making USATF beholden to the shoe company.

The sport needs a new business model where runners are under a legitimate contract with a team rather than a business.  I could go online right now and tell you exactly how much money each of the players in the NFL game I am currently watching makes per season.  Track and field?  Yeah right. 

That lack of transparency keeps the power in the hands of the shoe companies, not the athletes.  Without any knowledge of how much professional runners make, how can the public have any voice in determining whether athletes are underpaid and undersupported?  Without a shift away from the current shoe company driven state of the sport, track and field athletes will not see any improvement in their pay or the condition of the sport.


Saturday, July 20, 2013

What's Wrong with Track and Field (Part I)

Last week, the world of professional track and field was rocked by another doping scandal, as Tyson Gay, the fastest American sprinter ever at 100 meters and three time gold medalist at the 2007 world championships, and Asafa Powell of Jamaica, former world record holder at 100 meters and also owner of 88 sub-10 second finishes in the 100 meters.  The positive tests, Powell's for a stimulant and Gay's of a still unknown substance, set of a hale storm of of media vitriol deriding track and field as a sideshow sport with false times and world records fueled by performance enhancing drugs.  Nearly every sports talk radio show I listened to last week at one point accused Usain Bolt, by far the greatest talent that track and field has ever seen, of being a cheater.

It is a sad state of affairs for track and field, leaving even the truest of fans, including myself, questioning the direction of the sport.  How long until the sport is controlled by a team of doctors, testing concoctions on their guinea pig athletes?  Of the 12 fastest men in US history at 100 meters, 7 have been linked to some type of doping scandal.  One of our nation's top female sprinters, Carmelita Jeter nicknamed Pharmalita Jeter by many, continues to associate herself with people tied to doping.  Marion Jones, the Olympic darling of the 2000 Sydney games, was embroiled in the BALCO scandal and was ultimately stripped of her five Olympic medals.  No one wanted to believe Jones could possibly be cheating as she was trumped up as a role model for young girls everywhere, but we should have seen it coming, as she was accused of doping in high school!

The one athlete drawing the most scrutiny, and the one I most believe to be competing clean, is Usain Bolt.  Those accusing Bolt of doping, specifically the sports talk hosts who have never watched a professional track race in their life, do not understand just how special an athlete he is.  As a skin and bones 17 year old, he ran 20.13 for 200 meters.

Bolt is simply a once in a lifetime athlete.  A 6'-5" sprinter dominating a world of 5'-11" to 6-1" sprinters.  Most sprinters at the world class level are short, compact balls of muscle.  Being small and compact makes it easier to come away from the blocks well, and this is the one thing that has always held Bolt back.  It just takes him longer to get up to top speed, but when he does, his stride is one of the most impressive things I have ever seen.  His utter domination of the 100 meter final at the 2008 Olympics remains one of the most indelible sporting images of my life, and I am praying it is never tainted by a doping scandal.

As a distance runner, I would be mistaken if I only addressed the doping problem in the sprinting world.  Distance running also has its fair share of doping problems to address, perhaps more so than sprinting.  Sprinting success is largely inherent to the talents you were born with and technique, but in distance running, success is governed by continued accumulation of mileage and workouts, all geared towards equipping your body with the ability to function aerobically while in an extreme state of physical distress.  This can all be accomplished through years and years of hard work, or the process can be speeded up through the use of a nifty little substance called EPO, which is a naturally occuring hormone in the body.  Just by looking, you could never detect the use of EPO in a runner on the surface.  You do not grow gills while on it and your muscles do not pop out of your skin.  Your body just produces more red blood cells and more red blood cells equals more oxygen to the muscles.  Just ask Lance Armstrong - EPO works wonders for an endurance athlete.

I believe, more so than any other sport, track and field is a science.  It is unlike football, baseball, or basketball in that way.  Pitchers have been throwing the ball at about the same velocity for years.  We are not on the verge of seeing a pitcher throw the ball 110 mph.  We will never see a quarterback capable of lofting 100 yard spirals or a basketball player discovering a jump shot that never misses.  All of those skills are governed largely by your natural talent.  Humans are not born with the ability to run 9.8 seconds in the 100 meters or 12:50 in the 5k.  Those marks require specific training, and we are still learning what type of training leads to those performances.  This is why records gradually fall in distance races.  We have come a long way since the days of Emil Zatopek training for his races by running 100 meter sprints in combat boots!

This is also why I believe track and field will always have problems with doping.  Athletes always want an edge.  This is true in every sport.  In baseball pitchers doctor the baseball with illegal substances.  Linemen in football are always looking for creative ways to hold without getting caught.  That is the nature of competition.

Steroids and other performance enhancing drugs have been used for years in all other sports as well, most notably in baseball.  But these are team sports, and one player juicing up does not guarantee success.  Barry Bonds never won a World Series and neither did Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa during the height of their steroid use.  Did they make millions more than they would have otherwise?  The answer to that is a resounding yes, but they did not drastically affect the outcome of the entire season.  In an individual sport like track and field, one doped athlete can alter the entire landscape of an Olympic Games, a la Marion Jones or Ben Johnson.

I cannot quite explain the outrage over the use of performance enhancing drugs in endurance sports like track or cycling.  There was hardly outrage over the use of drugs in baseball in the late nineties, and even today, a positive drug test by a baseball player sparks a day of fire and brimstone rhetoric by the talking heads on ESPN before the player goes onto his next multimillion dollar contract (Melky Cabrera anyone?).  No one questions the rapidly growing size and speed of NFL linebackers.  If you think all of those 6'-5" 260 pounders with 5% body fat are not using something than I've got some nice real estate on the moon you might like to purchase.  Why then, should it be seen as indicative that the sport of track and field is dying or failing when a couple of sprinters test positive?

I believe what is at the core of such beliefs is the fact that track and field is such an organic sport.  It is one of the oldest and most primal sports in the world.  It is two men lining up to see who is fastest, who can jump the farthest, or who can throw the farthest.  We have all engaged in these activities ourselves.  Racing one another is one of the best ways that children assert their dominance.  Everyone wants to see where they stack up against each other physically.  When we watch track and field, we want to believe that we are watching the best in the world push their bodies to the brink against each other.  Naturally and without the aid of any drugs that we ourselves could not take.  Track and field record books are not just an homage to those whose names grace the pages, they are an homage to what the human body is capable of when pushed to its utter limits.  When records are falsely held by dopers the entire human race has been cheated.  Without strict enforcement of doping rules our record books will not be a true measuring stick of what our species is capable of.

Sadly, I believe track and field will always have a doping problem.  Doping has been an issue in the sport since the East German and Russian she-men dominated the sport in the seventies and eighties.  Doctors and scientists will always have a hand in who wins the Olympic gold.  Again, if you think Mo Farah became a transcendent distance runner at the age of 30 after stagnating for years we can talk about that lunar property I mentioned before.  The rewards are simply too great for those who choose to take drugs, and the risks not great enough.  Most runners make little to nothing competing in the sport.  One good season, fueled by drugs, could provide enough winnings to live off for the rest of a young Kenyan's life.  Get busted, and you just head back to your home country to sit out your ban, making just about as much money as you would have anyway.

My enjoyment of the sport comes largely from watching the athletes fight and claw their way to the finish.  I want to see fast times just as much as the next person, but I would rather watch a race in which 10 men battle the entire length of the bell lap than a sub 12:30 5k in which the winner is doped to the gills.  That is not what the sport is all about, but I fear that without the strictest enforcement of drug testing rules, that is what it will devolve into.  I long for a day when world records can be set and fast times run without red flags being raised.  Or the day when a previously unheralded athlete can emerge from obscurity to win a gold medal without scrutiny.  I hate the fact that even as a die hard fan of the sport, I still take world leading performances with a grain of salt.  I want to believe that someone like Farah could drastically improve from second rate to world beater through hard work alone or that an unknown like last years 1500 Olympic champ Taoufik Makhloufi could shock the world.  Things like that inspire me to pursue my own personal greatness.  Instead Makhloufi's victory came with a widespread helping of disbelief.  Sadly, he has not been heard from this year, and I fear what many believed about him was true.

I will continue watching track and field no matter how many positive drug tests there are.  It is the sport I love the most, despite its warts.  What I fear, is that I will be among the few, lost in a sea of doubters and disinterested.  Those who love the sport most must fight to keep it clean, be they athletes, fans, or drug testers.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Quick Thoughts from a Qualifier: Matt Pelletier

As much as I know you are all dying to read about my training, I also see my blog as a chance to do more than just write about the weekly ups and downs of training.  I am hoping it can be a resource for other runners like me trying to make the most of their potential down the road.  To that end, I am going to start putting together interviews with past Olympic Trials qualifying runners.  It will be a great look into what they have gone through to reach that level that should help those of us trying to reach that level.  I also see it as a chance for these guys to get a little of the recognition they deserve, since so many people are unaware of the level of commitment and dedication it takes to be a 2:18 type of marathoner and balance the rest of your life.  After all, not many shoe companies are handing out contracts to 2:18 guys.

The first athlete I reached out to was Matt Pelletier, who I had the pleasure of racing against and meeting in Vermont this spring.  Matt is a two time Trials qualifier, but he wasn't always an elite runner.  Matt attended the University of Rhode Island, where he had very modest success as a runner.  In his own words, he ran times, "that an average high school kid would laugh at," but he stuck with it and kept grinding away.  Now, the runner who graduated college having broken 29 a few times for the 8k, has run 2:17:17 for the marathon and posted a top 20 finish at the 2008 US Olympic Trials.  Matt lives and trains in West Greenwich, RI.  He works as a teacher at Pilgrim High School in nearby Warwick, RI and lives with his fiancee Jill.  Thanks again Matt, and hope our paths cross out racing the roads sometime soon!

2008 Trials qualifier Matt Pelletier breaks the tape at the Vermont City Marathon.

Q: Not everyone who has success running 5k and 10k on the track is able to translate that ability to the marathon distance. When did you realize you had the ability to become an elite marathoner?

 A:
I was never very successful at the shorter distances. I always new I would run my best at the marathon. All of my PR's at the other distances have come during marathon training.  (Matt has lowered his 5k PR to 14:36 and has also run 49:05 for 10 miles and 1:05:42 for the half, so the wheels have certainly come around) I just don't have the form or leg turnover (or talent) to compete at the shorter faster distances. I like the marathon where you just grind along for two plus hours and try to maintain a consistent faster pace.

Q:  How many tries did it take you at running the marathon before you feel you really had a feel for the distance?

A:
My first marathon was 2:32:52 in Boston in 2003. I ran it for a friend of mine who was killed while out on a training run for Boston. I approached his wife after the funeral and told her I wanted to run Boston with his bib number on so we could say he completed what he was training for. That was only 2 weeks before the race so I really didn't have any marathon training at that point. I ran 13 miles the day before Boston helping a friend out with a tempo run. Six months after Boston I ran my "first" marathon with training involved and ran 2:24:18. My coach at the time and I decided to shoot for the trials standard of 2:22 and see what happened, so it was an all or nothing shot. Our main focus was qualifying for the 2008 trials, but decided to give one attempt at qualifying for 2004. I fell a little short, but knew it was possible.

Q:  Where did you run your first Olympic Trials qualifying time and how did you feel crossing the line knowing what you had accomplished?

A:
I first qualified for the trials in Chicago 2006. We had a huge pack on a perfect (but windy) day, all shooting for 2:20. We stayed together for the most part until the later miles. I really started to fall off around 23 but held it together and ran 2:20:26. It was the B standard but I was in. Seven months later, I ran 2:19:00 at KBVCM (Key Bank Vermont City Marathon) all alone and got the A standard. My goal since 2002 was to make the 2008 trials, and I was finally going to realize that dream. Crossing the line in Chicago wasn't exactly celebratory. There were so many people running times right around 2:20 that it was a mad sprint to the finish. There was $1500 on the line for being in the top 25 Americans, and I was sprinting trying to pass as many people as possible coming down that stretch. I finished 25th American. In the KBVCM, I had no plans of running the A standard, but it kind of just happened. I had no idea what pace I was on until I saw the clock coming down the finishing stretch. I probably would have been 2:18:58 but I was celebrating the entire way in. It felt great to run under 2:20, knowing I could have gone faster.

Q:  Could you describe your experience at the 2008 Trials where you finished in the top 20?

A:
My coach (Matt is coached by Ray Nelson) and I always have a sit down meeting a few days before the race. We had gone out and checked out the course in August, so I knew that it was a very challenging course against the country's best runners. My goal was to not finish last. He wrote my time down in an envelope and sealed it. He would tell me what it was after the race. He did tell me not to be scared to run faster than I thought I could, and to leave it all out there. The time in the envelope was 2:17:xx. He knows me better than I know myself. The trials experience in itself is worth all the training and heartbreak. They make you feel like you are the best runner in the world. Walking around the hotel, and going to meetings with guys who I had only seen on tv made me completely starstruck. I rode in an elevator with Ryan and Sara hall. I sat on the bus across the isle from Alan Culpepper. I had a nice chat with Sage Canaday. It was amazing. Once the gun went off on race day, I blocked all that out and focused on running my own race and running by feel. With so many up and down portions in Central park, I focused on maintaining the same effort. Downhill miles were faster and uphill miles were slower, but I was running consistently by effort. I had no idea what place I was in at any point of the race, or what my time was going to be. Just trying to move up from group to group, run the tangents as best as possible, and not let anyone break away from me. Steve Sundell (15th place) and Chris Raabe (16th place) were the only guys from my pack who broke away from me. I wish I had gone with them. The only guy who passed me was Clint Verran (18th place) and he passed me at 26 miles like I was standing still. Everyone else that I had started with once we entered Central Park finished behind me.

Q:  What kept you motivated to keep training at a high level coming out of college and what drove you to return to running after dealing with your injuries? With work and the demands of the real world how have you been able to work running into a busy schedule?

A:
My coach and I are on the same page as far as training goes. We both like high mileage, long tough workouts, and not racing too often. We like to put all the eggs in one basket and focus on 2 marathons a year and race sparingly in between those marathons. He sends me a schedule at the beginning of the week and I give him feedback after every day's training. Having the schedule and a coach to answer to makes skipping runs tough. I figure it's not too hard to squeeze in two hours a day of training. Plus Jill is very understanding of my training. Not having kids helps too. I'm motivated to be the best I can be. I don't want to look back one day and say "I wonder what I could have run if..." When I finally give it up, I'm confident I'll be able to say I got the best out of myself that I could, and don't have to wonder "what if". Coming back after the injuries was tough. I had two knee surgeries over the course of three years, and retired about 100 times during those three years. I kept having setbacks that made me think I would never be able to train like I wanted to ever again. Really, it was the people around me (friends, family, PT's, chiro's,) that kept telling me that I wasn't done that got me to keep trying. By myself I think I would have been retired for five years now.

Q:  What do you consider to be the number one key to success for post collegiate runners looking to continue their development and transition to the marathon?

A:
The key to success for post collegiate runners is not to give up. Money will come later in life and so will family. The best training in your life has a very short shelf life, and that expiration date is coming up fast. Once the ability to run your best is over, then you can move on to normal people things. People have always asked me if my running keeps me from being "normal". We're not normal. Competing at our level isn't normal. If it was, everyone would do it. You have to be willing to make sacrifices to achieve great things. In 2000 there were only a handful of people willing to do this, and our distance running in this country showed that. Now more and more people are willing to chase the dream, and we have the results to prove that it is working. The other thing is to find a coach who knows the marathon well, and find a training group to suffer with. Leading up to the trials, I had a group of five guys and one girl who I ran with at least twice a week. We did our workouts and long runs together. Having other people on the track who know EXACTLY how bad the workout you are doing hurts helps you tough it out week in and week out. Now, I train mostly by myself. I can't find a group to meet up with with runners of similar ability. I feel like my training is missing that one essential piece.

Q:  Do you agree with the USATF's decision to tighten the qualifying standards for the 2016 Trials?  Note - The USATF standard has been set to 2:18 for 2016, a drop from 2:20 in 2012.

A:
I do agree with the tightening of the standards. 2:15 is the IAAF standard, so it should be the standard all the qualifiers are aiming for. What's the point of going to the trials if you can't even make the Olympic team? That being said, 2:15 is pretty friggin tough to run, and I really need to step my game up AND have the race of my life just to make the trials now.

Q:  Favorite race? Either favorite course or one individual race experience that stands out? 

A:
Favorite race? As for marathons I would have to say my favorite marathon is the KBVCM. From fans, to course, to coordinators, they just do an excellent job of putting together an excellent race. The Trials might be my favorite race ever though. Just an experience that I will never forget, and hope to experience one more time.

Q:  Favorite workout?

A:
My favorite workouts are the ones that are really tough, and I know will help me run a great race. 12 X 1 mile comes to mind as one that really sucks at the time, but in the long run is a great race. We've also done 10 miles at a comfortable pace, 10 miles at race pace, 5 miles at a comfortable pace, and the last mile all out. That's a tough one. We also do some dynamic surge (DS) workouts. Basically a workout like 3 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile on a track, but every 3rd lap is significantly faster than the others. For example, here's one from 10 days before this year's KBVCM:

3 miles w/ 400 m. DS every 3rd lap
78, 78, 72, 78 (5:09)
78, 72, 78, 78 (5:09)
72, 78, 78, 72 (5:00) = 15:18
800 rec.

2 miles w/ 400 m. DS every 3rd lap
78, 78, 70, 78 (5:04)
78, 70, 78, 78 (5:04) = 10:08
800 rec.

1 mile
73, 73, 67, 73 = 4:46

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

USA Half Marathon Champs Recap

Well, I certainly learned the hard way that the body only has so many good long distance races in it in a short time period.  I have been training and racing hard for over four months now without a break, and it all finally caught up to me this weekend in Duluth, MN at the USA Half Marathon Championships.  I did set a new personal best time of 1:08:04, but it was not the type of time I was looking for given the type of times I have come to expect of myself.  Despite the poor showing in the race, it was a valuable experience, and I am still happy with the decision to run the race.

My journey to Duluth began very early (4:45 a.m.) last Thursday morning with a quick flight out of Harrisburg into Newark to catch a connecting flight to Minneapolis.  From Minneapolis I boarded a shuttle bus to make the final leg of my journey, a three hour drive, to Duluth.  This is where things got a little interesting.  Glenn Randall (another runner headed to the race) and I made a beeline to the back of the bus to try and capitalize on the little extra leg room the long back seat would present.  This turned out to be a huge mistake on our part, as the final passenger to board the bus was an extremely large (we're talking 4 bills large) gentleman.  My supposed comfortable back seat was now reduced by half its size as he ballooned across the boundary of his seat and squeezed me into the window with his considerable girth.  Needless to say, it was not a pleasant ride to Duluth, but the bus finally pulled into Duluth around 4:30 p.m. Central time.  After that long day of travel, it felt good to finally lace up my shoes and get out for a short shakeout run through downtown Duluth.

Everyone I had talked to leading up to the race told me to try and soak in as much of the race experience as possible.  Not just the race itself, but the entire elite athlete experience and the chance to learn from some of the country's truly elite runners.  When I woke up on Friday I did a short run with some strides and then headed down to the elite athlete headquarters to hang out in the hospitality room and get a pre-race massage.  It was hard not to be intimidated walking into the elite room as everyone in there looked older and faster than me, so I tried not to stay in there too long lest I psych myself out.  One of the funnier things I have seen was in the elite room though.  Since Michelob Ultra is a big sponsor of the race, there were tubs and tubs of untouched beer in our room on ice.  After a massage, I headed over to a press conference for the top male runners.  I already blogged about sitting in on the press conference, but it was a really great experience listening to them describe their mindset heading into a big race like this.  A luncheon followed, and I sat and hung out with some guys who had run for Cincinnati.  It was weird when I realized one of the guys, Eric Finan, was a 13:40's runner whose log I always read on running2win.  They were fun guys to eat with and I got to catch up with them a little after the race on Saturday too.

After all that and a little bit of rest in the hotel, I headed back downtown to watch a good friend of mine, Matt Grey, who had moved to Minnesota, dominate in the 5k held on Friday night.  He led wire-to-wire and ran 15:25.  It was really great to see him run so well and then catch up for a while.  Then, it was early to bed since the buses left for the start line at 4:45 on Saturday morning.

I woke at 3:45 on Saturday morning to eat and hydrate before the race, and man it felt early.  I don't know the last time I was awake and functioning at this time.  I woke up well enough though, but my legs did not feel good.  I began having second thoughts about my goal time of 1:06, especially after feeling lousy on my pre-race strides.  I pushed these thoughts aside, and decided to go for it.

The race was drawn out quickly as Mo Trafeh sprinted out to a 4:20 first mile and I came through the first mile in 4:52.  Definitely a little quicker than I had hoped for and I began having a feeling that it definitely would not be my day, but I was tucked into the back of the Brooks-Hansons pack and just tried to roll with it.  I hit 5k in 15:28, still hanging onto sub 5:00 pace and the back of the Hansons pack, but I was quickly dropped between miles 4 and 5.  My 10k split was 31:31, still on pace for 1:06, but with the way my mile splits were trending upward, it was at this point where I really knew that 1:06 was not happening and that the second half of the race would be rough.  Mile 10 was hit in 51:39 - between 10k and 10 miles was where it really got ugly as I averaged 5:19.  From there, I could not really get the pace back down to a respectable level and finished in 1:08:04.  Not at all the race I had hoped for, but still a sizable PR.

Am I happy with the final time? No, not really.  It's not really a time to be happy about when you have such high expectations for yourself, but it is not really surprising to me looking back on how I felt leading into the race that it would not go as well as I had hoped.  The ten days prior to the race, the hard workouts I had been trying to put in very close to a marathon began catching up to me, and I was feeling very fatigued for a few days beyond my workout.  After each workout, that fatigue period seemed to last longer.  I did a tough workout the Tuesday before the race, and in hindsight, I was still recovering from my last workout the week before.  Working out tired kept me tired going into the race.  I had never really felt what it was like to push my body past its breaking point like I finally did here, and it's not something I will look to replicate down the road.  It is not a pretty thing when it takes your body almost a whole week to bounce back from a workout.

All that being said, I would not change my decision to run this race.  I feel like the college kid who has a dream season and somehow manages to make it to NCAA's after a big breakthrough.  It probably took everything to get to NCAA's, but there is no way you would ever turn down a chance to run at a national championship.  I do realize, there is still a need to think smart about your body, and I now have a better understanding of what I can and cannot handle in training and racing.  Luckily this training did not lead to any overuse injuries, just fatigue and flatness.  This race also gave me a chance to compete on the national stage for the first time in my life.  I was not a college All-American or even NCAA qualifier like many of the runners I lined up against, and I feel that finally competing at this level was a big eye-opener in terms of what it will take for me to continue climbing the ranks of US long distance running.  I need to get over being starstruck around other elite runners and think of myself as one of them.  I was definitely intimidated racing in the Hansons pack.

Finally, it was just flat out fun being in town for such a high quality race and getting so many perks.  They know how to treat a runner right in Duluth.  From the free massages to the various banquets they really make you feel special and I definitely hope to return for another race at Grandma's race weekend, be it the full or half marathon.  Of course, I can't forget the great post race parties they threw for us too.  The great people of Duluth like to race hard and then celebrate hard too.  It's always great seeing other elite runners out letting loose a little to remind you that you need to let yourself have a little fun every once in a while after a race.

Now, I will take a full week off from running followed by a week of very light running as I recover from all the hard training and racing I have done this spring.

The pain face on display.
Chilling with Abdi at the awards banquet.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Opportunity

My college coach often told us before a race - "Be excited about the opportunity" (or Have Freaking Fun).  To be honest, I never really got all the excited when he said that.  I always took it as just one of another in a long line of coaching platitudes uttered in premeet strategy sessions for years on end.  I was always nervous and obsessing about how the race would go.  Now, as I sit in my hotel room in Duluth, Minnesota preparing to race in a national championship race tomorrow, I am finally starting to understand his message.

As this is a national championship race, there was a press conference for the top runners in the field.  I sat in on the press conference to glean whatever small insight I could into how highly successful athletes like Meb and Abdi prepare for a race.  As I sat there, I couldn't help but think of Coach Piazza speaking about opportunity.  This race really is a huge opportunity for me to gain valuable experience racing at the national level, and on a more personal level, it is just a chance for me to travel across the country to a beautiful city I otherwise never would have visited all to do something I love.  Then the press conference began, and one word peppered the sentences of the elites - opportunity.  To them, races are an opportunity to do their job and get paid to compete, but even though they are competing for a living and I am competing for enjoyment, the message is all the same.

Races really are opportunities for us as runners and I am glad that I am finally starting to understand that.  They are opportunities for us to measure out progress after months of training and set tangible goals moving forward.  When you see a race as an opportunity to test yourself and prove to yourself that you are capable of great things rather than an chance to fail, it gives you a sense of confidence and anticipation.  I have trained hard for months and there is nothing I can do about my fitness at this point.  I know what I am capable of, and I can't wait for the opportunity tomorrow morning to let it all hang out for 13.1 miles!
Here we go!

Meb is excited about the opportunity to race for $12,000.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Finishing Touches

Tonight I wrapped up my spring training cycle with a final good track workout leading into this weekend's USA Half Marathon championships in Duluth.  It was a pretty simple workout - 4 miles at half marathon goal pace with short rest followed by a hard 800 to simulate closing hard at the end of the race.  I nailed the miles very comfortably in 4:58 with 75 seconds rest.  I then took a 4 minute rest to spike up for the 800.  I got out hard on the 800 and came through the 400 in 64 seconds, right where I wanted to be.  I was working hard on the second lap, but brought it home in 65 to finish in 2:09.

I am really pumped about this final workout.  Earlier this winter when I was beginning my buildup, I had hoped to reach the point where I was running close to 5:00 pace or better with this short amount of rest and I am right where I hoped to be!  Following it up with a very quick 800 all by myself is just icing on the cake.  I honestly never really thought I would get to the point where I could drop a sub 2:10 in a workout, but this just goes to further backup my strength=speed philosophy.

I will be running very easy the next three days as I conclude my season.  Nothing more than a half hour per day just to keep my legs loose.  Thursday and Friday I will throw in a few strides at the end of my run to keep the legs used to turning over.

It really still hasn't hit me that I will be competing in a national championship race this weekend.  It is a level I never thought I would reach.  This is what I love about running.  It is a pure work sport, and if you want it bad enough, you can accomplish things you never thought possible.  It might take a few years and thousands of long lonely miles, but when it all comes together for you like it has for me this spring, it is so worth it.

Now, back to business.  At the USA Half, my race plan is to go out no faster than 4:55 and then settle into 5:00-5:05 pace and grind all the way to the finish.  I believe I am fit enough to run 1:06 flat or a little faster.  The key will be not getting sucked out by the true elites who are capable of running 1:02 or better.  If I am able to stay under control for the first half of the race, I believe I will be able to rely on my strength to carry me to the finish in a huge PR!  This is certainly the biggest race I have ever been in, and I want to make the most of this opportunity.  I'm fit, confident, and ready to race!  I can't wait to see how I stack up against some of the USA's best and represent Keystone Elite on the national stage!

Next stop Duluth!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Sharpening the Steel

Coming off the Vermont City Marathon, I was a little unsure of how my body would bounce back and how training would go leading into the USA Half Marathon.  I knew I would need a few days completely off from running just to recover before thinking at all about preparing to race again.  It took about a week to really feel good running again as the toll of running 26.2 miles all out was gradually paid out.  Everything gradually worked itself, and I took this as a sign that I had properly trained for the marathon since the race hadn't completely destroyed my body.  With the fitness I had built up over months and months of aerobic buildup, I knew it was just a matter of staying sharp for two weeks and then chasing a big half marathon PR in Minnesota.

From my own personal experience, I have found that there are very little fitness gains that can be made in two weeks.  Since I had only two weeks to really train before winding down for Minnesota, I did not try to do too much in training.  No big long runs or long tempo workouts which would only serve to tire me out.  I just worked on getting comfortable running at half marathon pace.  I will be shooting to run between 5:00 and 5:05 per mile which is a little faster than the 5:15 I trained for in marathon training.  I also worked on fine tuning my speed by doing some quick 400 meter repeats.

I strongly believe that speedwork must be done regardless of the distance you are training for, especially at the end of a training cycle.  This is something we really did not do a lot of in college, but I wanted to get back to running all out at the end of my workouts as I put the final sharpening touches on my training.

The past two weeks, I have incorporated fast 400 meters repeats onto the end of my workouts after a few miles running at half marathon pace, running 59-64 seconds per rep with short rest.  This serves two purposes.  First, it helps my body feel smoother and more efficient running at half marathon pace.  Secondly, it forces my body to become used to recruiting fast twitch muscle fibers when I am already tired.  While I will never call on my body to sustain 59 second quarters in a half marathon, my fast twitch muscle fibers will be called upon to support my slow twitch muscles in the late stages of the race as I begin to fatigue.  If they are sharp and ready to go, I will have a much better chance to finish strongly in the end of the race as I tire.

I really did not know what to expect for the 400 meter repeats the last two weeks.  After all, in college, the workout that always gave me the most trouble was 2 sets of 10 400's run at roughly 66-68 seconds.  I decided I would try to run these 400's based on effort alone.  I would try to run my intervals hard, but not all out.

What I discovered blew me away.  Now, 64 second intervals felt extremely easy.  I would get out through 200 in 30-31 seconds feeling totally relaxed and then cruise to the finish.  When I really wanted to turn it on, 61 and 62 seconds did not feel extremely difficult either.  I was even able to run under 60 seconds for the first time in a long time - all after running a few miles at 5:00 pace.  What I realize now is that strength truly does equal speed.  This was one of my college coach's core principles.  With the months and months of the highest mileage I have ever done, I am faster than I have ever been.  I believe this will translate into a very fast half marathon as I have never had this balance of strength and speed in my running career.  I am very excited about the chance to toe the line with some of the country's best runners!  Less than a week now.

Week of 6/10 Training Summary

Monday: 8.5 miles easy - got in my first run in a long time with my good friend Joe Beveridge.  Hopefully there will be many more to come this summer!

Tuesday: 8 miles interval workout - 2 mile warmup, 4x400 (64.4, 66.4, 64.5, 64.9), 1x2 mile (9:58), 4x400 (61.2, 62.4, 61.9, 59.3), 2 mile cooldown. 

This was a very good workout.  Started with controlled 400's to put some lactic in my legs before 2 miles at half marathon pace.  The 400's felt very smooth and I was pleased that 64's felt this easy.  The 2 miles also felt easy but I did not hammer it and kept it at half marathon pace.  Then I spiked up to really get after it on the final set of 400's.  The last set felt very similar to the first set but man there really is a lot of effort involved to get from 61 to 59.  Two seconds might not seem like a lot, but try telling that to my legs.

Wednesday: 10 miles easy

Thursday: 8 miles easy

Friday: 9 miles interval workout - 2 mile warmup, 2x2 mile at half marathon effort (10:02, 10:04), 1xmile (4:42)

Didn't try to kill the 2 mile repeats.  Just tried to stay smooth and relaxed at half marathon goal pace.  I didn't even check my watch on the second one.  I was locked into the pace and it felt good.  Then did a hard mile to blast the system.  The last mile felt pretty good as I closed it around 68 after keeping it under control the first 3 laps.

Saturday: 7 miles easy.  Ran along Lake Erie in Cleveland as my dad and I are in town to watch the Nationals play the Indians.  The stadium here is awesome!

Sunday: 10 miles progressive - out easy (32:30) back hard (28:00).  Ran in a different part of Cleveland today and it was much nicer.  Made it to the nice, non-industrial part of the lake and it was beautiful.  Really got after it the last 10-15 minutes.  I was working, but felt very good.  Seeing Strasburg pitch today finally!

Total: 60.5 miles

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Why I Sucked in College

If you are reading this blog, I assume you are, like me, somewhat of a running nerd and spend at least 15 minutes a day (or your entire lunch break) perusing LetsRun, the self-purported home of distance running and track and field.  One of the best articles ever posted on the site was written by one of the founders himself, Weldon Johnson, aka WeJo.  The title of the post, Why I Sucked in College.  In it, Wejo, who would ultimately go on to run 28:06 for 10k and finish fourth in the Olympic Trials, bluntly breaks down why he never ran as well as he could have in college.

While I have yet to accomplish anything close to what WeJo did as a post collegiate runner, I also sucked in college.  I left college with 14:47 and 30:48 PR's for 5k and 10k, and was solidly mediocre in the grand scheme of things, never once scoring in a Patriot League championship meet.  How then, did I reach the point where I can think of myself as a sub 2:20 marathoner and say with a straight face that my goal is to qualify for the Olympic Trials?

The answer is simple really.

In college it was way too easy for me to become completely engrossed in my training and races.  If you have been around me long enough, you know that I can have an obsessive personality and a perfectionist streak.  Those two traits were my downfall when it came to running.  When you obsess over running, you refuse to let yourself take days off or easy days, constantly seeking to hammer yourself into shape.  You try to lose weight you don't need to lose, and you become a generally miserable person whose last bad race or workout must certainly be a sight that the end of the world is near. 

Of course, you need to be somewhat obsessive and hard on yourself to succeed in anything in life, but when running takes too prominent a place in your life, it actually becomes harder to succeed as your mental clutter blocks you from performing at the level you expect to.  Yes, after all these years, I realize sports psychologists aren't all kooks.

I love to run.  I love the sport and the competition, but in college there were times when I was not having fun with it and more than once, I thought about quitting the sport entirely.  I was pouring my heart and soul into the sport without any noticeable improvement.  That is a hard thing to keep doing day in and day out with no results, but in the end, I never could end this crazy love affair I have with the sport.

One of my biggest problems was confidence.  Although I trained at a high level, I never was able to think of myself as a very good runner.  Not until I ran 8:32 for 3k indoors my senior year did I really consider any of my times very good.  That race gave me a little swagger the rest of the season and I finally started going into races expecting to win, or at least to contend.  Running became fun again, because winning is fun.

Having fun is the key to all of my success this spring.  Running has to be fun or enjoyable.  So, how did I finally come back to enjoying running for what it really is?  Entering the real world certainly has helped.  Now, there is no coach holding a clipboard, waiting for you to trudge down to practice at 4:20 every day.  You must find motivation within yourself if you are going to lace up your shoes and strip down to your running shorts at 6:30 and run in the pitch black, 30 degree February nights.  I realized this winter, that if I didn't find a way to make running fun, I simply wouldn't do it.

Running is still a big part of who I am, and I do take it very seriously, but it is no longer the biggest part.  Running has become what I do for fun to unwind after a day at the office.  The balance brought on by having an adult job has also forced me to think less about my daily run or workout (for the first 7.5 hours of the workday anyway).  I take it one day at a time and try not to think about the next day's workout.  I take a day off every once in a while and only feel slightly guilty.  I eat what I feel like and don't worry about reaching the magical 2 lbs. per inch and I no longer see it as a mortal sin to have a dozen wings and a few beers the night before a long run.

So, if you were like me in college, and have similar PR's, my biggest advice to you is to lighten up, have a few beers every once in a while, and enjoy running for what it is - a daily 1-2 hour reprieve from the stresses and schedule of work and the world we live in, and see where the sport can take you.  You might even pick up some prize money in the process.

Week of 6/3 Training Summary

Monday - 8 miles, moderate effort @ 6:06 pace.  I was up early and out the door for a longer run as it was my fiancee's birthday and we had dinner plans at night.

Tuesday - AM run - 9.5 miles, easy effort @ 6:25 pace.  I woke up early and decided to get in my longer run in the morning since the USA Half is an early start.
Tuesday - PM run - 4 miles, shakeout and strides

Wednesday - AM run - 4 miles, shakeout
Wednesday - PM run- 7 miles, interval workout, 3 x mile (4:53, 4:54, 4:51) w/ 2 min recovery.  Ran the first three laps of each interval @ 5:00 pace and kicked in 67-68 the last lap of each interval.  Would have liked to do a fourth, but still felt a little tired and did not sleep well the night before.  Decided not to push too hard today as any fitness gains would be outweighed by the fatigue.

Thursday - 10 miles, easy on the railbed from Colebrook.  6:30-6:45 pace.  Ran with Ed Schrom (4:07 miler from UVA) and Sean Manning (one of the better HS runners in the area).  Two good guys to run with.  Really pumped Ed is back in the area for the summer and healthy.  We work well together and had some excellent workouts last summer.  The kid is a big time talent.

Friday - 10 miles, moderate effort on the riverfront and did some strides.  Ran for the last time in those FAAS 900's that Henry gave me.  Those things are like bricks and I always feel like I can't lift my feet wearing these.

Saturday - 9 miles, interval workout with Ed, 3 mile tempo in 15:32 (5:14, 5:12, 5:06) followed by 5 x 400 in 64.3, 64.6, 62.8, 63.1 and 59.4.  5 min rest after the tempo and 1 min rest between the quarters.  Great workout!  Accomplished exactly what I wanted to - get in a relaxed tempo for two miles, squeeze it a little in the last mile to put some extra crap in my legs and then blast some 400's to sharpen up.  First time running under 60 for a quarter since high school haha.  Strength = speed.

Sunday - 12 miles, longish run at Stony Valley in Dauphin.  Great run on the dirt roads.

Total - 74

Overall a very good week of training.  Ramped it back up slightly as I get ready for the USA Half.