Saturday, April 12, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
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
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
Friday, April 4, 2008
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.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
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."
Monday, March 31, 2008
Cheap Tunes
When I am on my own, I personally like running to music. "When I was in HS"... mp3 players had just come out. I got a 64mb mp3 player for just under $100. Today on Woot!, there is a 1gb mp3 player for $9.99. Not only is it 1/10 the price (not accounting for inflation), 16 times as much memory, it is also about 1/4 of its size. Electronics are becoming more powerful and disposable at the same time. Today's Woot! is only good for today.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Yes, Running Can Make You High
Interesting article in the New York Times, titled "Yes, Running Can Make You High", can be found here.
THE runner’s high: Every athlete has heard of it, most seem to believe in it and many say they have experienced it. But for years scientists have reserved judgment because no rigorous test confirmed its existence
...
But now medical technology has caught up with exercise lore. Researchers in Germany, using advances in neuroscience, report in the current issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex that the folk belief is true: Running does elicit a flood of endorphins in the brain. The endorphins are associated with mood changes, and the more endorphins a runner’s body pumps out, the greater the effect.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Winning Races and Running Miles
This weekend I visited one of my old college running buddies down in North Carolina. Saturday afternoon we ran a 8k (5 mile) road race in Greensboro. It was one of the best road races I have ever been to. The course was well marked, and they had a live band playing at the finish line. On top of that they had great prizes. I am no where close to being in the type of shape I used to be, but I was able to pull away in the final mile of the race to win it (approx 26:45). I picked up $200, shirt, hat, and a case of adult beverages. My buddy came in 4th, so it was a good day overall. Road racing is a lot of fun to do between seasons or after you are done with your competitive career (like me).
"Road racing is rock 'n roll; track is Carnegie Hall." - Marty Liquori
We got spring break off to a great start with our 1600/1000 repeat workout. Drew and Andrew S. (averaging sub 6:00 for 3x1600) worked well together, as did Will and Andrew H. Frank and Peter are getting stronger everyday. Manny had a bit of a tough time on the end of the workout, but on the plus side for him he is at 400+ miles of the year. The miles are also adding up. Here is a list of people over 100 miles:
Andrew S.
Matt G.
Manny
Drew
Dan
Will
Matt T.
I am sure some other people have, but they have yet to log it. As a team we have logged over 2200 miles for the year.
Coach
UPDATE: I ran 3x1600 with Alex today (3/25). He averaged 5:42, which is the best anyone has done to date.
We got spring break off to a great start with our 1600/1000 repeat workout. Drew and Andrew S. (averaging sub 6:00 for 3x1600) worked well together, as did Will and Andrew H. Frank and Peter are getting stronger everyday. Manny had a bit of a tough time on the end of the workout, but on the plus side for him he is at 400+ miles of the year. The miles are also adding up. Here is a list of people over 100 miles:
Andrew S.
Matt G.
Manny
Drew
Dan
Will
Matt T.
I am sure some other people have, but they have yet to log it. As a team we have logged over 2200 miles for the year.
Coach
UPDATE: I ran 3x1600 with Alex today (3/25). He averaged 5:42, which is the best anyone has done to date.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Week in Review - Spring Break
We had an average week. Not our best, but not our worst. Mile repeats and 1000 repeats on Tuesday went well. Wednesday I was late to practice, but it seems a lot of guys went home before I was late, because of rain or thought we weren't having practice. IF THE GUYS GO TO SCHOOL, WE WILL HAVE PRACTICE AFTER SCHOOL. RAIN, SNOW, SLEET, HAIL, MUD, OR THE SKY FALLING DOWN unless I announce otherwise. Some guys left after waiting on me a little bit, which I understand. The time of practice might be adjusted, but the guys should always be expecting to run. In the event of no practice, we should still be logging some miles (4+). Todays tempo was a grab bag, as a team it wasn't what I was looking for.
No practice tomorrow on Good Friday. There WILL be practice at 9:00 everyday next week (M-F) during spring break. Only people who are out of the country, visiting colleges, or going to funerals are "excused" from practice. If anyone needs rides or has a conflict, let me know.
People not at practice should do the following:
Sunday - long run
Monday - normal mileage day
Tuesday - Fartlek (explained later)
Wednesday - mileage
Thursday - tempo (the distance you ran for your last one)
Friday - mileage
Saturday - mileage (lighter if needed)
Overall mileage should be equal to what you have been getting in. For the top guys this is 50+, lower guys it is 30+.
Fartlek means "speed play". I want a warm up of about 15 minutes, then go straight into this workout. It is like doing repeats on the track, but not for set distances, and it will be a continuous run. The best way to think about this is a straight country road with telephone poles. You would run normally to the first pole, then run tempo pace - mile/1000 repeat pace to the next pole, then ease back into your run to the next pole, etc, etc. So if you have a watch, go for about 20 minutes of this on-off-on-off style running. The segments don't have to all be equal, but I do want them to be at least 30 seconds up to 2 minutes long, with a total of about 10 minutes of quality running. After the quality section, 15 minute cool down. Total running time is about 50 minutes.
Overall we are making a lot of progress. We just need to stay focused on the task at hand, and the results will follow in a few weeks once we start racing. Andrew got his 500 mile club shirt today. A big thanks goes out to Mrs. Fletcher for taking the time and effort to put that together! Can't wait to start handing more of those out.
It is a great day to be a knight!
Coach
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Week in Review / Sunday Long Run
We had a great week overall. The meet went really well (see post below, splits can be found here) and we had a lot of good things going on at practice. A big thanks to Mrs. Fletcher for taking excellent photos of this past meet. Some of them I uploaded online and can be viewed by clicking on the small versions in the upper corner or clicking here. There is also CD circulating among the guys with all 120+ pictures.
At practice on Friday we did a hill workout. I think it was our first "full team" workout of the season. Previously I held some guys out to give them an extra week or two to get in shape. Jorge and Brendan did a slightly modified workout and ran well. Drew led the way on a lot of the hill repeats which was great to see, and might have come close to the hill record if a car hadn't come along. Matt G, Andrew S, and Alex got in 10 repeats, which is the most we have done to date (we ranged between 6-10). Andrew H. and Matt G. set a new record on the hill, shaving 2 seconds off the previous time of 38. Overall the guys worked well together, ran tough, and had a great workout.
Matt Gardner reached the 500 MILE CLUB this past week. Hats off to him and his hard work. He and Andrew will soon be supporting some official O'Connell Distance Project gear!
I have asked all of the guys to go for a Sunday long run every week.
To help facilitate guys getting together for the long run, which helps it go by quicker in my opinion, I will be hosting an optional long run on Sunday at 3:00 at the Chain Bridge, which is on the VA/DC border. There is a small parking lot area just off of the road which I have attempted to circle on the map shown (click to enlarge it or click here for a direct google map if you need directions). Just across the bridge is the C&O canal path, which is 180 miles of dirt path and is excellent for running. If there is a more central location for guys who would like to come but can't because of the distance, please let me know.
Next week in workouts will probably be a tempo run and longer intervals (1000-1600m) on the track.
As always, if you have any questions, content for the blog, or concerns, please email me at runsweetlew@gmail.com.
It is a great day to be a knight!
Coach
At practice on Friday we did a hill workout. I think it was our first "full team" workout of the season. Previously I held some guys out to give them an extra week or two to get in shape. Jorge and Brendan did a slightly modified workout and ran well. Drew led the way on a lot of the hill repeats which was great to see, and might have come close to the hill record if a car hadn't come along. Matt G, Andrew S, and Alex got in 10 repeats, which is the most we have done to date (we ranged between 6-10). Andrew H. and Matt G. set a new record on the hill, shaving 2 seconds off the previous time of 38. Overall the guys worked well together, ran tough, and had a great workout.
Matt Gardner reached the 500 MILE CLUB this past week. Hats off to him and his hard work. He and Andrew will soon be supporting some official O'Connell Distance Project gear!
I have asked all of the guys to go for a Sunday long run every week.
To help facilitate guys getting together for the long run, which helps it go by quicker in my opinion, I will be hosting an optional long run on Sunday at 3:00 at the Chain Bridge, which is on the VA/DC border. There is a small parking lot area just off of the road which I have attempted to circle on the map shown (click to enlarge it or click here for a direct google map if you need directions). Just across the bridge is the C&O canal path, which is 180 miles of dirt path and is excellent for running. If there is a more central location for guys who would like to come but can't because of the distance, please let me know.Next week in workouts will probably be a tempo run and longer intervals (1000-1600m) on the track.
As always, if you have any questions, content for the blog, or concerns, please email me at runsweetlew@gmail.com.
It is a great day to be a knight!
Coach
Friday, March 7, 2008
Week in Review
This week has been a busy and exciting one from my point of view. Although we have been preparing for outdoor for a few weeks now, this week was the first "official" week. Lots of new guys out, which is exciting to me, but also leads to me being slightly more disorganized, or at least I feel like it sometimes.
When I first started there were maybe 5+ guys running everyday, so it was easy for me to run between groups, get to know the guys, and make sure everything was going well with running. It also gave me a great change to interact with them more one on one, which I really enjoy. With 15+ guys at practice everyday, and rapid improvement (see previous post about Mandrew), it is a lot harder for me to do. My goal everyday is to start with the guys who are going shorter, then hammer out the gap to the next group, and then eventually 2.5-3 miles out catch the front group before I turn around with guys who are running 5-6 (I have guys going as little as 3 up to about 7 on average). It is a lot of fun, but I am always on the move, that is for sure.
The tempo run we did this week went really well. Outside of Mandrew's performance, Drew, Jack Henry, Frank, Tom, Dan, Will, and Matt T. all did their first workout with the team. One goal we have started to work on is our pack running, and they did a great job of working together during the workout. If guys are at about the same ability level, working together helps them to stay focused, push each other, and know they aren't the only one suffering! This will become very helpful come cross country. It is also nice to pack it up on everyday runs, as it adds a bit of the social aspect to the run, which in my mind always helps it go by quicker.
This morning we had practice with Will, Manny, Matt G, Drew, and Andrew H. We had a nice run and ate a few muffins, donuts, and capri suns afterwards. Eating donuts after a good run is one of my favorite things to do, hopefully the guys feel the same way.
The picture I am including is of Ryan Hall this fall at the marathon Olympic Trials. Hall dominated the trials, and is probably one of the top hopes for an American medal in the distance races at the Olympics. On this day in New York he ran 2:09 on a course which was not flat, and a slightly tactical race without rabbits. It is perhaps one of the best American mens marathon performances in recent history. What is striking about this picture (link to original)... well I think it speaks for itself. Enjoy.
It is a great day to be a knight!
Coach
When I first started there were maybe 5+ guys running everyday, so it was easy for me to run between groups, get to know the guys, and make sure everything was going well with running. It also gave me a great change to interact with them more one on one, which I really enjoy. With 15+ guys at practice everyday, and rapid improvement (see previous post about Mandrew), it is a lot harder for me to do. My goal everyday is to start with the guys who are going shorter, then hammer out the gap to the next group, and then eventually 2.5-3 miles out catch the front group before I turn around with guys who are running 5-6 (I have guys going as little as 3 up to about 7 on average). It is a lot of fun, but I am always on the move, that is for sure.
The tempo run we did this week went really well. Outside of Mandrew's performance, Drew, Jack Henry, Frank, Tom, Dan, Will, and Matt T. all did their first workout with the team. One goal we have started to work on is our pack running, and they did a great job of working together during the workout. If guys are at about the same ability level, working together helps them to stay focused, push each other, and know they aren't the only one suffering! This will become very helpful come cross country. It is also nice to pack it up on everyday runs, as it adds a bit of the social aspect to the run, which in my mind always helps it go by quicker.
This morning we had practice with Will, Manny, Matt G, Drew, and Andrew H. We had a nice run and ate a few muffins, donuts, and capri suns afterwards. Eating donuts after a good run is one of my favorite things to do, hopefully the guys feel the same way.
The picture I am including is of Ryan Hall this fall at the marathon Olympic Trials. Hall dominated the trials, and is probably one of the top hopes for an American medal in the distance races at the Olympics. On this day in New York he ran 2:09 on a course which was not flat, and a slightly tactical race without rabbits. It is perhaps one of the best American mens marathon performances in recent history. What is striking about this picture (link to original)... well I think it speaks for itself. Enjoy.
It is a great day to be a knight!
Coach
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