Track and Field Blogs - Flotrack Blogs

Looking out the window of Tia Loco’s ‘palace’ we are surrounded by looming brown mountains (called Sandias, which means ‘watermelon’, because they sometimes look red-ish at sunset) casting sharp shadows in the powerful sun, dry brown grass and pueblo style houses. A ball of tumbleweed blows across the street, and a dust storm is seen far on the horizon. It is a very different sight from the narrow streets and ocean-side atmosphere of Rhode Island. We are in Albuquerque, New Mexico doing 3 and a-half weeks of altitude training at about 5,200 feet. I’ve been to higher places before, but… more »

Today I had a hill climb workout. I had scheduled a 6 mile climb on Gold Camp Road on the west side of Colorado Springs. Starting at 6600 feet and finishing at almost exactly 8000 feet. I planned to park at a scenic view turn off 2 miles up the hill, jog down past the start and do a 3 mile warm up. Then do my climb and finish with a 4 mile cool down back down the hill to my parked truck. Now I knew it was supposed to snow today but I was figuring it would be a… more »

Track is almost here and it is time to get serious. That means it is time for me to write a blog. I just got back from a trip to visit my aunt and grandparents in Wisconsin. It was great to get some family time in before my schedule gets more hectic than it already is. Audrey (my fiancee) was on spring break so she was able to go along as well. It was the first time she had been to Wisconsin. Now I'm back and starting to gear up for the season. Workouts are getting faster and I have… more »

I just got back from a run on one of my favorite single track trails in Sedona, AZ. As I've said I love the solitude of running there and I enjoy taking that time to reflect. I had a lot to reflect on having just returned from my win at the U.S 15k Championships in Jacksonville, Florida. I enjoyed every step of that race and I ran alone from the front never looking back once. Having such a close finish also added to the value of the win. Reflecting on the race and my running career today has reinforced my… more »

1981. At the 1981 World Cross Country Championships, Craig Virgin won gold in the Men's Senior race, while Keith Brantley nabbed bronze in the Junior Race. Could anyone have predicted that after that day, no American male would stand on the podium at the championships for 2 decades? US running didn't fall off the face of the earth, but a new era of distance running had begun; the African dominated one. The team battle has been equally lopsided. Kenya and Ethiopia have been the only 2 teams to have won the Senior Men's race from 1981 until last year's race.… more »

Over the last few days I have completed my first few workouts at Altitude. My first was five repeats of a flat loop that I hadn’t measured the distance of but was guessing was a bit short of 1k. It turned out to be between 905m and 970m depending on which map I looked at. I did the reps in just over 2:45 with just under 2 mins jog rest after each one. It actually only felt a little different then sea level. I had no idea how fast I was going and I did notice little differences like when… more »

Rivalries can sometimes be perceived with negative connotations, but they can inspire men (and women) to do great things. Take Thomas Edison and Elisha Gray. The pair had a heated rivalry to become the first to perfect the telephone. They both submitted a patent for the telephone on the exact same day, hours apart. One of the most notable rivalries came between the USSR and the USA during the Cold War. Today, we owe satellite TV, iPhones and Google Earth to these rivalries. The ones that give us the most excitement today are sports rivalries. Those super-charged bouts that are… more »

As many of you know I moved to Colorado Springs, CO from Lowell, MA last week. This is my first time going to altitude and a big change for me and my training so I figure I’ll do a few blogs over the next few weeks on what its like. In this first entry I’ll talk about the move and my first few days up here. After indoor nationals on Saturday I had a going away party on Sunday which was kind of a bust because we got a foot of snow or so. Then I spent most of Monday… more »

Have you ever seen a 140 pound Grizzly Bear rolling down a hill? Well, if you would have been doing our workout a week ago, you would have been in for a treat. In our Boston prep, we spend 4 weeks of doing our typical workouts, but on a primarily downhill (but rolling) dirt road. Today was 6x1.5 miles at 10 seconds faster than pace. In early March the roads are unpredictable, and on top of Drahner Hill, the road was ok, except around Dead-Man's curve. In this little spot there was one tire track width of dry road. We… more »

I'm not accustomed to writing about my experiences in a personal journal entry let alone an online blog. I did some blogging in the past about 6 years ago, but it was very short lived with just a couple of entries. I don't like to keep a running journal for logging mileage and have only taken the time to log a journal a few times in the recent past when I felt it was important to do so. I like to try to live in the present and be completely present in what I'm doing when it comes to my… more »

I did not get to the 2009 US Indoor championships in Boston this past weekend, but I have heard many reports from athletes, journalists, and agents and all accounts were the same, that the meets was a joke. Doug Logan has been at the top for less then a year and this was his first indoor championships so this blog is not meant to bash him or the USATF. This blog is a critque and hopefully it will be a forum with mine and the communities suggestion on how to save US indoors, if it is worth saving....... By all… more »

Hey guys, so it’s been awhile since my last blog so I thought I should get back on here and update things a little and let everyone know where I’ve been. Just before the New Year, during a workout, I tore my plantar fascia (yes, very shitty). I had been having plantar fasciitis for a couple months with some days being better than others. It was something I thought would get better, until it finally tore during this one specific workout. I actually just thought I pushed it a little too much and that things would be fine. The next… more »

On Saturday night I ran the USATF indoor championships 3000m. I ran horribly. I finished DFL (dead you can figure it out last) in 8:17 my slowest time this winter. So you might expect that since I ran so badly at the national championships, missing my A goal for the race by just over a second per lap my indoor season must be a failure, I must be crushed. I have received a number of emails and facebook messages and comments on my blogs of condolence and advice on how to get better. What I need to do to get… more »

I will not be racing this year, due to various reasons. One, I need to let my body and some injuries heal. I’ve been racing since I was 11; I’m 30 so things ache a bit much. I do need to get a bone spur removed that I’ve had for a few years. It’s at the end of my tibia and digs into my talus whenever I walk or run. Resulting in me not having full flexion in my left ankle and not being able to push off equally and of course pain. So it affects my left knee, left… more »