Arlington County Championships

Lots of really good things on the track. Sorry if this is short, but much to do.

4x8 ran stellar. 8:44! PRs for everyone except Andrew, who was only 1 second off. The great thing about tonight was the guys ran hard from the gun. Hopefully running fast, hard, and tough becomes a trademark of the program (but still racing smart). The slowest first lap was a 63. Nicholas ran really well in his first fresh 800 of the year. His hard training over the past couple of weeks really showed tonight (5:02? double for him).

The 1600 was a little more of a grab bag, but considering it was close to the 4x8, those guys doubled pretty well. Most impressive 800/1600 double was Will Nyce who closed in excellent fashion on the last lap to get 4th. Hats off to him for his 5:00.

The 800 showed that Andrew Holleran is indeed the real deal. He ran his second 2:10 of the night. Jack Henry showed some of his speed in the last 200 of his heat to get a guy in the closing 50 of the race.

I had my final macro econ class of the semester tonight, so I unfortunately couldn't skip it and watch the 3200. I am really bummed about it. From what I can gather Dan got 4th with an 11:20 (which is a lot faster than he ran a few weeks ago), Frank got 5th! and outkicked Stella who ran the double and got 6th with 11:40ish. Nice job guys, I really wish I was there.

Frank getting it done on and off the track...

Coach

I am sorry to miss another day of practice but I recently won an award for a science fair to go to a banquet at the University of Maryland after school tomorrow. I'm really sorry, but my mom is making me go. Maybe I can run around the campus while I'm there.

Thanks for the email and heads up Frank! Be sure to give Frank a pat on the back the next time you see him and a "thata boy". Representing OCDP on and off the track. I guess if you are going to miss practice you might as well be winning things. Maybe we should get some OCDP sweater vests made up to wear to formal events.

Drew, get better. You are missed by everyone.

Great day to be a knight!

Coach

Matt 5:04 Nicholas 5:02 Andrew S 5:15 Peter 5:51 Will 5:00 Tom 5:23

4x8 runs well. Nicholas, Will, and , Matt run 2:11 and Andrew 2:10 for a 8:44. Great way to start the meet!

Boston Marathon!

After watching the OT yesterday, I spent the rest of the day hanging out in Boston. I went to the running expo and got to chat/autographs with/from Frank Shorter and Dick Beardsley. Dick was part of one of the most famous Boston Marathons ever, it was nick named Duel in the Sun.

The world record holder in the marathon right now is Haile Gebrselassie. He has decided not to run the marathon at the Olympics this year because of health reasons. There has been some speculation he is really skipping out because he is afraid of getting caught for taking banned substances. So who better to ask their opinion than the two men I met (Shorter won Gold and Silver at the distance).

Frank: "I can't comment on that" but added on the end with a smile "that is a interesting idea and you seem like a smart guy." It implied to me he thought that what Haile is doing, but can't come out and say it because his name still carries weight in the running community and people still pay attention to what he says.

Dick: He said something along the lines of "yeah, I think that is probably what he is doing, I mean, what does he have to lose, the conditions are going to be the same for everyone, it is actually kind of sad."

Both guys are very knowledgeable and can offer great advice if you ever meet them.

Off to watch the start then figuring out how to get home!

Coach

Frank Shorter is at the expo!

couldn't get to the finish to get a exact time but 2:52ish.

Deena dominates the last lap for the win. DOMINATES

crossing bridge for the loop then back across for the finish. She seems to have bounced back some

annoying girl standing next to me using noisemaker even when no one is around... Time to move.

Deena has gapped third. 5 miles to try and close a minute gap. Hansons runner in 4th and close to third

19 miles in just over 1:59

around mile 18 sarah is stopping/going. Looks like she has a cramp

that should be 1:21:07. People are going nuts for Joan.

Deena is starting to push. Pack is slowly breaking. Sarah hits the half in 1:27:07 and looks good.

leaded just went through in 1:14:45ish

sarah is looking smooth. Haven't counted her place yet, but she appears to be moving up. Looks like a lot of women went out too hard.

Sarah just hit 6 in a touch under 37 and looks smooth

WCAC Goals

We have a week or two to finish preparations for championship season. After looking at past years results, I think one goal might be to score at least one guy in every distance event at the WCAC meet.

2007 results are here - 2:07, 4:50, 10:30 were 8th place
2005 - 2:08, 4:59, 1o:39 were 8th.

I haven't found any results besides these yet. If anyone knows where else I might be able to find them please feel free to send them to me.

EDIT: Here is the start of a WCAC performance list I am starting to put together so we know how we stack up to the rest of the conference. It isn't complete by any means. I have about 1.5 meets in there so far, so lots of work to do yet. I might run out of time to get it done, but it already is giving a rough idea of what the top of the conference is looking like.

Dedicated to Matt "I am in love with pictures of myself" Gardner

Gardner has been hounding me all week to get on top of my game and get the most recent set of pictures up, and rightly so. So if you look on the left, there are some pictures from the Potomac Relays, special thanks to Mrs. Fletcher. While we are "doling out" (as Alex would say) Sweet Heart of the Week awards we also need to give a big thanks to Mrs. Stella for dropping off water and granola bars for the guys post run the other day.

Results from yesterday can be found here, and will also be on the left hand side under results. What I had and what the official times were are not the same. I am probably a little biased when it comes to getting our splits. Nicholas did not break 5, but ran 5:00. Some of the other times were off by a second, but all in all it was still a great day. Also, as a team, we WON the meet. Early today I was asked about the result and had no clue. I didn't think we were in the running since we didn't score in the 4x4, but lo and behold we won the thing. Every point counts.

I will hopefully write a more in depth post for future reference later, but I need to address an important running related issue. That issue is shoes. In terms of gear, we are a pretty low demand sport. No balls, sticks, hoops, court, pads, or anything else. The most important piece of gear we have is running shoes. They are the only thing separating our feet from hard man made surfaces. It is very important for the guys to keep an eye on the mileage of their shoes. Most shoes will hold up for about 350-500 miles. That is usually a pretty safe area. Running2win provides a very easy way to keep track, or another way to think about it is to take the weekly average mileage and just replace shoes every "x" number of weeks. Say, for example, I was running 100 miles a week in college. This would mean I would order a pair of shoes every 4-5 weeks. So if the guys are logging 50 a week (like Matt G), every 8-10 weeks we should be replacing shoes. Personally, if the guys find one shoe which works for them, stick with it. It makes them easier to break in, you don't have to mess with sizing, and all that other fuss. Plus, you can just order them online and usually find a decent price. It is also important to remember every runner has different shoe needs. I can run in lightweight, neutral, little/medium cushioned shoes with no problems. My friend Peter, who is 6'1" and 165 can not. So be sure to keep this in mind. Sorry if that was long winded, but it is very important. When in doubt, go to a specialty running store and spend the time getting in the right (and left) shoe.

Tomorrow there will be more to do and failure awaits those who stay with some success made yesterday; tomorrow you must try once more, even harder than before. - John Wooden

"So I just ran with reckless abandon after that."

Prior to this week I had weakly decided to go to Boston to watch the Olympic Trials. Monday night I decided I had to go, and booked a flight (thanks Priceline for saving me lots of money and not forcing me to drive).

The Boston Globe has a great article about Joan Samuelson (she won the first womens marathon in LA). Some of my favorite quotes...

"After a while, I realized that I could mature a bit more and handle it," Samuelson says. "So I just ran with reckless abandon after that."

"I thought I heard him correctly, but I wasn't sure," she says. "Then I said, 'Whoa.' " (bold added)

"To run a 2:50 at the age of 50 would be a good goal to shoot for," says Samuelson, who is the second-oldest woman (after 53-year-old Marion "The Flying Nun" Irvine in 1984) to qualify for a trials.

Blast from the Past

I probably reference a little too much back to my HS team, or things of the like. I came across some results from my senior year today and thought I might post them as to quasi prove my claims. Our 5th guy ran 17:20 and our 7th ran 17:26 that day (3 sub 17). To be invited to the meet I think your team had to finish in the top 7 of your respective state meet the previous year(Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana). HAHA, I just found a picture of me at this meet, enjoy.

Coach

4x8 9:07... Will 2:14, Alex 2:18, Matt 2:18, Andrew 2:14. Good race overall, one bad handoff. We have a better race in us still I think.

Two Meets and One Post

At the NoVA meet Drew and Andrew ran the late heat of the 3200m. They got out well, but fell off in the later stages. Drew ran about 11:28, and Andrew 11:38 (which is 22 seconds faster than indoors). Both of these guys have a lot more left in them.

At the C2 meet there was a lot of positive things. The 800 went well. Tom almost took his heat gun to wire, but got run down on the end. He ran (2:24) a really tough race and he has a lot of good things in store not only this season, but in many seasons to come. Kyle and Jack Henry ran even splits, Kyle ran a 2:30 and JH a 2:38. Manny went out more controlled this time, and looked a lot better the last lap, and finished with a 2:34. He too has more in him.

The 1500 was probably my favorite event of the night. Nicholas after joining us from lacrosse, ran a really respectable time for as little training time as we have had. He ran a 4:51 and got fifth? I think. The 4:51 is equal to a 5:13ish mile. I know I have been talking Frank up a lot, but there is good reason. Two weeks ago Frank was unsure if he could break 6, and he runs 5:40. Now he is unsure if he can run near 5:30. So what does Frank do? Goes out, runs really well from the gun (2:33 at the half) and finishes 5 seconds back of Nicholas in 4:56, which is about a 5:18ish 1600!!! Let me say that again, Freshman Frank ran the equivalent of a 5:18 mile! That should justify to anyone my excitement about Frank.

The 3k with Dan and Matt went alright. Dan ran a 10:56 (11:35-40ish 3200) and Matt ran 11:20 (12:00ish 3200). The 3200 is a race where we just need to become better at racing it and staying tough the second half of the race. I believe Dan might have got 3rd overall as well. There was a lot of big gaps, so I could be wrong.

What can we learn from Frank? Confidence. Pure and simple. We are working harder and smarter than a lot of other teams. When the tough part of the race hits, we are better prepared than most of our competitors. The next step for us to have huge leap in performance is not a physical one, but a mental one where we start to tap into our abilities.

Overall a great day, and hopefully tomorrow will go well too!

It is a great night to be a knight!


Coach

We Didn't Start the Fire...

Here is an article about the Olympic Torch. It goes through how they keep it lit while on a plane, what happens if the flame goes out, and who watches the flame at night. A good read for sure with the Olympics coming up!

The convoy accompanying the torch while it makes its way through city streets has more than 20 vehicles provided by the relay city and they escort the torch in a set order (a section of which is pictured above).

Most of this journey is on foot, but other modes of transport over the years have included dog sled, horse, canoe and camel.

In London, it will be carried on two boats, a bike, a bus and the Docklands Light Railway.

For a trip across the Great Barrier Reef before the 2000 Olympic Games, a special torch was designed to burn underwater.

Who is the fastest?

Here is an interesting article on some homeless people who run. The same core values of our program, hard work, dedication, and discipline, are the same ones that they learn by running and help guide them towards a better life.

The first day, Mahlum led nine shelter residents in a mile-long run. Today, Back on My Feet has teams in three Philadelphia shelters, including 54 homeless members and more than 250 volunteers. The group has logged more than 5,000 miles.

Requirements for shelter residents to join are simple -- they must live in an affiliated facility and be clean and sober for 30 days. Members receive new shoes and running clothes, and teams run together three times a week between 5:30 and 6 a.m.

The runners are diverse -- doctors, janitors, students and shelter residents -- but such distinctions aren't apparent.

"All you can tell is who's the fastest," says Mahlum. "You can't tell who's homeless and who's not."