Track and Field Blogs - Flotrack Blogs

I love the sport of Track and Field and it is the best sport on earth. Nothing matches the physical strength and beauty in its purest form like the high school 4x4 at Penn where Long Beach Poly and St. Jago are neck and neck coming down the home stretch with 40,000 people cheering or the unbridled emotion of Darren Brown after he honored his father by breaking four, but the lack of vision and direction the USATF and the leaders have for our sport is depressing. The sport of Track and Field begs like a dog under the table… more »

Since Boston ended, I knew that a "speed segment" would come to follow it. I knew that I would need to work on getting more comfortable in faster paces before I try to run those faster paces in a marathon. Now, although I am not shooting to qualify for the trials 10,000 or anything on the track, I need to get some sharper tools in my box again. Heck, a lot of my current teammates probably believe that I'm pretty darn slow given how I've run since coming here...but I am not convinced of it.
Back when I was… more »

Well as I pondered my goals for this year's track season at the beginning of the year I came up with two sets of goals. My time goals which were sub 2, 4:15, and 9:10. I also has the dream to join the select few, triple crown champions. And I'm not talking about growing hooves and having a 2 foot long dick and calling myself Seattle Slew, Secretariat, or maybe Big Brown. Oh no I'm talking about the distance running trifecta. The gold medalist in the state 8, the mile, and the deuce. This was a dream of mine ever… more »

this whole thing is getting blown out of proportion and this article made no sense to me... but then again, it is a NW Arkansas regional publication.
taken from wholehogsports.com

It has been four days since the story appeared about John McDonnell being told he could not be an assistant coach on the U. S. Olympic track team because he has coached international athletes.

After chewing on it, there has been just no letting go of that slap in the face to McDonnell, even though he totally took the high road. more »

Yesterday’s Run:
16 miles
Entertainment: getting George Michael’s song, “Faith” stuck in my head and trying to remember more than 4 lines from it.
QuiP: One & done.

Women’s Marathon Olympic Trials:
Very cool experience…not pleased with my performance.
QuiP: I was praying a lot for humility (true statement), that wasn’t what I had in mind (true statement).
Follow-up to quip: I’m thankful I don’t solely rely on my limited vision and understanding.

Current Running Smack Talk:
Mile battle between me and one of my… more »

On a run a couple of days ago I found myself laughing at Kai (our miniature Siberian Husky) as she tore off through the woods in hot pursuit of yet another squirrel, only to be left at the bottom of the tree peering up as the hotly tempered squirrel rattled off some explicits in its native tongue. I thought to myself, 'why does she keep wasting her energy flying after squirrels when she has chased thousands of squirrels during her short life, yet never, ever, even been close to catching one?' But as I contemplated her spirit I… more »

I've decided to show a video of a little house tour that was conducted. This is Mike Reneau working on the camera the camera shots you see directed by Luke Humphrey.



It was a young Bill Cowher for last months mustache. With the Penguins in the playoff there are some awesome playoff beards out there right now, but in an effort to jinx them I am doing a totally unrelated mustache. This is still a quality mustache although maybe not noticeable to most it is a more C list celebustache. more »

So today was day #35 of the move/road trip. I started in Maine and yesterday could be found in Arkansas. Guess where I am today.....Maryland! Kinda back-tracking it feels, but the good thing is I flew here not drove. I am in Baltimore covering the Maryland State Meet at Morgan State University. Today was 1A and 2A races, tomorrow will be 3A and 4A.....saturday will be finals for all classes. So on Sunday I'll be flying back to Fayetteville to grab my car and finish the journey to Austin!! It feels weird thinking I'm actually going to get there. There… more »

Everything is coming to an end here for Chico State. I have two finals tomorrow and two Papers to write and then I will get on a bus with the team down to Mt. Sac for NCAA's. It will be a busy week and I shouldn't be taking time to write a blog but blogs are easier to write than papers.

Recovering from track 10k's are hard. I don't know what it is about them, I guess our bodies aren't meant to run 25 laps on rubber with thin little spikey shoes but I always feel like… more »

but here i am. all is well. last time i wrote was in the fall. i suppose a bit has changed. no more sub-teaching, kids kept gettin me sick and ran close to practice time. so in jan or feb, i became a baker at "brueggers bagels." i recently stopped workin there cuz its time to just train only. had to do what i had to do tho. being at work at 5:15am isn't that attractive either. either way im done with that.
i havent written much or drawn a thing since the fall, just been a lil occupied… more »

I know it's been a while since my last entry but, I haven't had any exciting news. I do have a lot going on and hopefully someone can learn from this experience.

THE INJURY

This past week I saw a Neurosurgeon and a Neurologist. With the Neurosurgeon we went over the MRI results and he concluded that I don't need surgery, which was a big relief. Although it would of been nice if he said, "oh, there's a little problem in there, let me fix it. It will only take a second and… more »

So the traveling just keeps on going. In the past day I was in Clemson, Athens GA, and now Knoxville. Crazy schedule, not much sleep and going on runs definitely makes for a tiring schedule. Luckily for me, I've never really needed much sleep to get things done. But once I sit and slow down it definitely hits me. Enough about that....

Last weekend I saw some great stuff while at Clemson. Got together with some old teammates (Matt Clark and Mitch Greeley....young Bryce Iverson was also around as well). Got to see some workouts, some off-roadin… more »

The meaning of committment as a discipline of the spirit must take into account the mind and spirit cannot be seperated from the body in any absolute sense. It has been wisely said that the time and the place of man's life on earth is the time and the place of his body, but the meaning of his life is as significant and eternal as he wills to make it. Committment means that it is possible for a man to yield the nerve center of his consent to a purpose or cause, a movement or an ideal, which may be… more »

Well, we are back in Michigan, the snow is gone, and the women’s marathon trials are now in the past. It’s almost a weird feeling because for so long the only thing anyone talked about was the trials. We took two weeks off after the race and then started up again last Monday. Now we are going to switch gears a bit and move on to some shorter distances for the spring and summer. When I look back on the trials I think one of the greatest things about the race was how may people it brought together. I’m from… more »

A big old turd has finally found its way out of my body (hope you guys can understand the metaphor, I worked pretty hard on that). The long time period of frustration, has finally come to a close with a breakthrough performance that I will remember for the rest of my life. 1:56.26. When I hear that time I still can't believe that this would be my 800 time of my junior year. All the nightmares of seeing 2:00 and change are finally over. I believe the tally had accumulated to four 2 flats, which coincidentally is the same amount… more »

With three months to go before the Olympics begin I am now putting the finishing touches on a vision that birthed 10 years ago during a long, slow, painful, fifteen-mile run around the lake. Now, after all I have been through I have just 105 days to pour myself into my training and prepare for the biggest opportunity of my life. All the training, all the discipline, all the depression, all the sacrifice, all the joy, it was all part of the journey that has prepared me for August 24th.

I love the Olympics. I always have.… more »

So here it goes....a change, a new beginning. No more 9 to 5 at the desk behind an old computer, I've now become part of the movement that is Flotrack. My first step is to move out to Austin, TX to join the team at HQ.

Click to play play_blip_movie_896922();

I thought back to the start of Flotrack and Mark's travels throughout the country in the "White Pearl" (his van) and all of the experiences he took away from it. With that in mind, I decided I would set out on my… more »

well, i've only got one (two at the absolute most) meets till eugene. i've just been sitting and waiting. the trials can't get here fast enough. and the usatf seding about two emails a week concerning housing and travel to and from eugene and beijing doesn't help that fact. but that's the worst of my problems at the moment, which is a blessing. my hip feels great, i'm getting in a lot of technical work, and my form is coming around. i'm stronger, healthier, more flexible, and we haven't even tapped into the explosive stuff on the track and in… more »

Three outstanding runners made the team, two of which have heartbreaking stories from the 2004 Trials, placing 4th and 5th….alternates for the last Olympic team. It’s really the American dream, heartache in 2004 followed by 4 years of hard work, determination and sacrifice in addition to executing their race plan to finally make the team. For myself, I ran a near perfect race and could not be much happier. As some of you know, the marathon is a tough monster to tackle. Go out at too hard of a pace; pay the price later by hitting the wall. Don’t take… more »

The Payton Jordan meet is an awesome experience every year. This year was beyond anything that I had seen before though. First off, it was so awesome that people didn't have to pay to get in and the only place that was off limits to spectators was the track itself. This made for a great atmosphere for the races, which were awesome as always.

My race was as perfect for me as any races are. The pace got out a touch slow which was certainly in my favor. We were a bit afraid that the pace might… more »

Sator Arepo Tenet Opera RotasIt’s been about two weeks since the trials race and I’ve had a good amount of time to reflect on the race now. I’ve also been able to catch up on all the amazing stories and events that took place within the race, and read all kinds of warm and fuzzy recaps of the day. Lets be honest though, it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies out there, here is my story. My story is one of pain, heartbreak, and maybe just a touch of humor. If that damn Eggers hadn’t stolen it, I may have called… more »

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I last posted, but things are going well! I can't believe it's May already! The trials are just around the corner and I can hardly wait--it's so exciting! The training has been good and I'm looking forward to my race at the Payton Jordan Invitational this coming Sunday. I'll be racing the steeplechase again and I'm looking for a big improvement from my steeple opener at Mt. Sac a few weeks ago. I've been substituting at a few of the high schools here in the Ogden area which has been a lot of… more »