en-us Copyright 2006-2008 Flocasts Inc Mon, 1 Dec 2008 23:57:24 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/assets/portal/simple30/images/logos/flotrack-logo.gif http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Xcrun04/5172-nationals-and-whats-next I had more fun at this national championships than I have at any others. The Chico team seemed much more relaxed and we were able to just have a good time all week as well as on race day. We had our lowest point total ever as well as our most All-Americans ever. We also got to tour Pittsburg on Thursday and take over a bowling alley the night after the race. I'm a firm believer that Cross-Country should cover all surfaces and conditions. I think that the National Championships should rotate all over the country and that the World Championships should take place in every corner of the globe. I think the spirit of Cross-Country is to challenge yourself to every aspect of running whether its a golf course or a mud course. Obviously some people are going to have advantages and disadvantages from course to course but overcoming adversity is what Cross-Country is all about and it is what we train for. That said, it was really cold in Slippery Rock. My face and feet went numb every time I went outside and it was very hard to breath after a fast start up a hill. I had a great race and did the best I could not to let the cold get to me, but I'm happy I wont have to race in the snow that much. Winning a Cross-Country title was an amazing experience. It is something that I was hoping to do from the moment I got to Chico and to see it actually happen was almost unbelievable. I can't believe how far I have progressed in my time at Chico and winning the race that I finished 23rd and 29th in my first two years is something really special. To get Third as a team was really cool as well. Angel finally got his Cross-Country All-American, Michael Recovered from a mid-season bout with Mono for a great race, Beau was All-American in his first national Championships and Brendan raced through a hamstring injury and held on to be our 5th runner and run fast enough to get us 3rd place. So now I guess I'm kind of a pro athlete. Audrey won't let me consider myself pro until I sign a shoe contract because I won't be making a living until that happens but I can make money now. Speaking of shoe contracts, I know a lot of you are really curious to see what brand I will be representing but hold your horses. Right now we are at the beginning stages of the process and the various shoe companies are going to be bidding for my services hopefully in the next few weeks. I don't anticipate announcing what company I will be with until 2009. But, just because I don't have a shoe contract doesn't mean I won't be racing. I will be running a 5k tomorrow in San Jose against a pretty good field. There is an article on the front page of letsrun dubbing it as an American record attempt. I suppose I'm going to go out there and if a record is in the cards I'm going to go for it but don't be too dissapointed if I fall short... I have no idea how my legs are going to feel after a very hard 10k on Saterday and while I think I was capable of 13:24 or better during the track season, I don't know what that translates to on this road course. Either way its going to be a fun race. My parents are running in the Turkey Trot portion and Pat (Boivin), Jimmy (Elam) and Aisha (Kamala) from Chico are running as well. On December 13 I will be running Club Cross for the Adidas Transports. The Transports are the closest club to my home town and it will be fun to travel with those guys to Spokane. I started my training for Cross-Country a bit late so I figured that I would try to extend my peak for these races before I took a break and got ready for Track. Xcrun04 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Xcrun04/5172-nationals-and-whats-next Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:10:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Xcrun04/5081-regionals-fiasco-and-one-more-race As many of you know there was quite a fiasco at the West Regional championships a few weeks ago. I'll do the best to give a short explaination from my perspective. About a mile and three quarters into the race we were supposed to make a sharp turn left and we didn't. I didn't even see the turn because the way we were supposed to go was blocked by fans and flags but after 20 or so seconds I knew something was wrong. I kept my composure and just figured that when my team was jogging the course the days before we had the course wrong. Then when I saw the leader of the race (Jordan Welling of Western Washington) and the lead bike coming I didn't hesitate for a second and I turned around and started my effort to get back to the front as soon as possible. It only took me around a minute or two to get back to the front and everything was sorted out for the most part. Then around a mile and a half later the UCSD coach was on the track halting the race. Then I started laughing. Of course we reran the race and the results of that race are what decided who went to nationals. Chico did a phenominal job of handling the day and dominating the race. Beau had a bit of a breakthrough and Michael had an amazing first race back from taking virtually the whole season off with Mono. Brenden had his first bad race of the season and ended the day nursing a sore hamstring but I'm pretty sure every team out there had some issues after the second race. I think that UCSD actually did a pretty good job dealing with the disaster. Given the circumstances I think the outcome was as fair as possible. Some individuals may have paid a price for being too agressive but for the most part the results seemed pretty normal. Maybe they shouldn't have restarted the race but its hard to say. Anyone that got reasonably close to qualifying to nationals would have filed a petition. Reruning the race curbed that a bit. On the other hand we are trained to run 10k, not 16k and running a second race in the midday heat was not the safest decision ever. Either way its time to look beyond it and to the biggest prize. Nationals is on Saturday and we will be leaving on Wednesday. Right now it is 68 degrees and sunny in Chico and 32 degrees and cloudy in Slippery Rock but thats not going to be a big deal. If you are ready to run, you are ready to run and conditions only make for a small difference in the outcome in my opinion (but they often make for a huge difference in excuses). Chico is ready to go and so am I. I'm not going to try to predict how the race is going to go but I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that I am having fun out there and so is my team. Nationals is a pretty special experience and I am lucky to be going to NCAA DII XC nationals for the 4th time. In the past we have gotten pretty fired up about proving how good we were and about beating certain teams and when it starts to hurt and we aren't beating those teams or whatever its not as fun. I think that if we are relaxed and we race like we have nothing to lose then we will be our best... but what do I know. This will be my last race as a Wildcat and I want to enjoy it. Xcrun04 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Xcrun04/5081-regionals-fiasco-and-one-more-race Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:12:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Ryanf/5051-live-ncaa-regional-updates Its time for NCAA D1 Regional action and we are pumped!!! We'll be have a 2008 Highlight Reel going on throughout the day and a LIVE Show that will begin at 1pm (CT) at the start of the Women's West Regional. Check back throughout the day for live results (all times in Central Time). Here ya go: 9:00AM - report from Cara Hawkins in the South region: conditions at the course are "windy, soggy and 53 degrees. ?everything is running on time" 9:25AM South Region Results - in the women's race, Hollie Knight of Auburn sets the course record with Sarah Bowman (Tennessee) in second and Susan Kuijken (FSU) in third. Waiting on team results 9:37AM -report from Tristan Willey in the Mountain Region: "Woo! Regional Mania! We are out on the course! ?Conditions are sweet, it is beautiful!" 9:55AM South Region - flordia state looks to have won the women's title. ?waiting for the official results from the rest of the field 10:04AM South Region Men - still a large pack at 3 miles 10:13AM - from Cara is the men's south region: "thru 5 miles....race has spread out, two auburn followed by south alabama, followed by luke gunn of fsu" 10:20 South Men Results from Cara - "Auburn goes 1-2-3! Alabama 6-7-8.....Flordia State has 2 in the top 10." Unofficially for the women - Florida State, Florida, Tennessee round out the top three teams. 10:33AM Northeast Women from JP - "unofficially, providence women won and syrcause second. waiting for official results." 11:02AM Southeast Women from Ryan V - "Still no official results but fanning (Va Tech) 1st, Felnagle 2nd. UVA women appeared to have won!" 11:09AM Official South Region Men's Score - Alabama 49, Auburn 59, FSU 3rd. Auburn men go 1-2-3 and don't win! Their 4th man was 23rd 11:29AM - NORTHEAST RESULTS (times are slow, conditions are muddy and rainy) Northeast Men Update - Iona 46, Providence 88, Columbia 103, Dartmouth 118, Syracuse 156, Cornell 166, UMass-Amherst 231, Harvard 261 Individuals finishers- Mohammed Kharadroui (iona) 31:18, McCarthy (Prov), True (Dartmouth), Okuti (Iona), Ledwith (Iona), Chenoweth (Harvard), Richie (BC), Randell (Dartmouth), Miller (syracuse), Busby (Syracuse) Northeast Women (official) - Prov 36, Syrcause 90, BC 95, Stony Brook 118, Columbia 140, Cornell, Harvard, BU, New Hampshire, Brown Women Individual - Doetzel (Prov), Walkonen (BU), Champa (BC), Sang-Bender (Syrcause), DiCamillo (Prov), Douglas (Prov), Richardson (Harvard), Lagesse (BU), Listor (BC), Lessard (Columbia) 11:44AM Southeast Women: Results - Women?1 Virginia 105 6 7 9 28 55 75 97?Total Time: 1:47:28.80?Average: 21:29.76?2 Kentucky 126 10 15 31 34 36 118 166?Total Time: 1:48:34.40?Average: 21:42.88?3 North Carolina 154 2 4 32 53 63 94 111?Total Time: 1:47:33.00?Average: 21:30.60?4 Duke 171 26 29 37 39 40 73 92?Total Time: 1:49:42.50?Average: 21:56.50?5 William & Mary 204 22 30 45 49 58 66 96?Total Time: 1:50:18.40?Average: 22:03.68?6 Louisville 221 5 24 27 76 89 119 122?Total Time: 1:49:48.70?Average: 21:57.74?7 Virginia Tech 226 1 20 50 56 99 104 154?Total Time: 1:49:20.70?Average: 21:52.14?8 Richmond 230 14 33 57 59 67 85 107?Total Time: 1:50:37.10?Average: 22:07.42?9 Charlotte 259 8 43 44 80 84 125?Total Time: 1:50:56.10?Average: 22:11.22?10 Clemson 267 12 51 61 62 81 91 179?Total Time: 1:51:22.10?Average: 22:16.42 11:46AM Southeast Men - William & Mary wins by 1pt, Virginia takes second (OFFICIAL), NC State 3rd, Duke 4th Indiviuals - Chelanga wins by about 30 secs, Bobby Mack (NC State), Hieniken (UVA), Foster (UVA) Inidividual Qualifiers - Chelanga, Runner from Kentucky, Matt Llano (Richmond), Bo Waggoner (Duke) South Central Men - Shadrack Songok wins, Lamar athlete second, McPherson (Ark) 3rd; Texas A&M Men Win team title! 11:51AM Southeast Women 1 fanning, tasmin SR Virginia Tech 20:07.8 1 2 Felnagle, Brianna SR North Carolina 20:15.4 2 3 Jesang, Janet JR Western Kentucky 20:34.0 3 4 Holesh, Lauren JR North Carolina 20:39.4 4 5 McKay, Tarah JR Louisville 20:42.0 5 6 Dezubay, Lauretta SR Virginia 21:00.6 6 7 Gay, Morgane FR Virginia 21:02.7 7 8 Goetschius, Amanda SO Charlotte 21:04.6 8 9 Garcia, Stephanie SO Virginia 21:14.9 9 10 Ortman, Jessica SR Kentucky 21:22.3 10 11 Ricksecker, Rebekah SR Liberty 21:24.6 11 12 Baker, Jenna SO Clemson 21:27.0 12 13 Lordi, Megan JR Furman 21:28.3 13 14 Traynor, Nicol SO Richmond 21:29.1 14 15 Ortman, Jenna SR Kentucky 21:29.6 15 16 Pritt, Emily FR North Carolina St. 21:30.3 16 17 Copeland, Brittany SO East Carolina 21:31.0 17 18 Parris, Alison JR James Madison 21:32.8 18 19 Gaffney, Meghan SR Appalachian State 21:33.1 19 20 reddan, erin SR Virginia Tech 21:34.9 20 11:55AM Great Lakes Women: Results - Women 1 Nicole Bush SR Michigan State 20:48.5 1 2 Nicole Edwards SR Michigan 20:57.4 2 3 Gwen Jorgensen SR Wisconsin 21:01.1 3 4 Wendi Robinson JR Indiana 21:03.9 4 5 Kari Summers JR Ohio U. 21:16.3 5 6 Lisa Senakiewich SR Michigan State 21:21.0 6 7 Annie Beecham JR Ohio U. 21:23.5 7 8 Crystal Martinez SR Ipfw 21:26.8 8 9 Hanna Grinaker JR Wisconsin 21:29.2 9 10 Lindsey Ferguson JR Notre Dame 21:29.6 10 11 Jennifer Morgan JR Michigan 21:32.0 11 12 Crystina Martinez SR Ipfw 21:34.1 12 13 Sarah Pease SO Indiana 21:40.2 13 14 Marissa Treece SO Notre Dame 21:41.0 14 15 Emily Langenberg SO Michigan State 21:42.4 15 16 Danielle Tauro SO Michigan 21:44.7 16 17 Ashley Beutler FR Wisconsin 21:45.7 17 18 Lilian Jelimo SO Cincinnati 21:48.7 18 19 Caitlin Comfort FR Wisconsin 21:51.5 19 20 Larisa Arcip JR Akron 21:52.4 20 21 Geena Gall JR Michigan 21:52.8 21 22 Kelly Sampson JR Michigan 21:54.3 22 23 Kelsey McHugh JR Miami (Ohio) 21:54.5 23 24 Laura Rolf SR Valparaiso 21:56.2 24 25 Anna Weber JR Marquette 21:57.7 25 26 Carlie Green SO Michigan State 22:00.7 26 26 Kim Lorentz SO Akron 22:00.7 27 28 Sarah Foster JR Ohio State 22:01.3 28 29 Katie Morrical JR Purdue 22:02.3 29 30 Amanda Mirochna JR Miami (Ohio) 22:02.5 30 Results - Women 1 Michigan 72 2 11 16 21 22 40 58 Total Time: 1:48:01.20 Average: 21:36.24 2 Wisconsin 80 3 9 17 19 32 54 55 Total Time: 1:48:11.90 Average: 21:38.38 3 Michigan State 83 1 6 15 26 35 38 71 Total Time: 1:48:00.10 Average: 21:36.02 4 Notre Dame 125 10 14 31 34 36 49 68 Total Time: 1:49:29.11 Average: 21:53.82 5 Indiana 145 4 13 33 44 51 86 130 Total Time: 1:49:40.90 Average: 21:56.18 6 Miami (Ohio) 208 23 30 39 57 59 74 111 Total Time: 1:51:29.50 Average: 22:17.90 7 Marquette 221 25 42 45 53 56 77 93 Total Time: 1:51:48.10 Average: 22:21.62 8 Akron 284 20 27 46 81 110 128 133 Total Time: 1:52:43.90 Average: 22:32.78 9 Ipfw 288 8 12 83 89 96 169 177 Total Time: 1:52:19.60 Average: 22:27.92 10 Purdue 309 29 47 48 85 100 112 122 Total Time: 1:53:13.60 Average: 22:38.72 10 Ohio U. 309 5 7 76 97 124 139 150 Total Time: 1:52:26.10 Average: 22:29.22 ? 12:02PM? Mountain Region Women - race just underway about 1/2K in....Sally Kip & Badaru (Both texas tech) going 1-2? 12:08PM Mountain Women - Sally goes thru 5:00 at mile, next 5:09, pack at 5:13 12:20PM Great Lakes Men Results - Men 1 Patrick Smyth SR Notre Dame 31:06.4 1 2 Andy Baker SR Butler 31:12.5 2 3 Chris Lemon SO Dayton 31:31.6 3 4 Landon Peacock SO Wisconsin 31:33.3 4 5 Stuart Eagon SR Wisconsin 31:33.4 5 6 Christian Wagner SR Wisconsin 31:35.4 6 7 Craig Miller JR Wisconsin 31:35.6 7 8 Lex Williams SR Michigan 31:42.5 8 9 Ciaran O'Lionard SO Michigan 31:42.6 9 10 Sean McNamara JR Michigan 31:42.7 11 10 Craig Forys SO Michigan 31:42.7 10 12 Pat Sovacool SR Miami (Ohio) 31:46.6 12 13 Scott Keeney JR Indiana State 31:51.7 13 14 Matt Lemon SO Dayton 31:57.2 14 15 Kyle Saginus SR Marquette 31:57.4 15 16 Tom Boardman JR Butler 31:57.9 16 17 Matt Withrow SR Wisconsin 31:58.7 17 18 Justin Roeder SO Butler 31:59.0 18 19 Rob Mullett JR Butler 32:00.5 19 20 Joe Miller FR Notre Dame 32:01.8 20 21 Shamus Eaton SR Ohio U. 32:02.8 21 22 Timothy McLeod SR Indiana 32:03.4 22 23 Brennon Plotner SR Indiana 32:04.8 23 24 Seth Thibodeau SR Michigan 32:05.0 24 24 Taylor Williams FR Ohio State 32:05.0 25 26 Patrick Grosskopf JR Michigan State 32:06.5 26 27 Aiman Scullion JR Kent State 32:09.3 27 28 Dan Jackson SO Notre Dame 32:10.0 28 29 Spencer Beatty JR Michigan State 32:11.2 29 30 Mike Andersen SR Dayton 32:12.3 30 30 Daniel Clark SR Notre Dame 32:12.3 31 32 DeSean Turner FR Indiana 32:14.5 32 33 Kevin Silver JR Miami (Ohio) 32:16.3 33 34 Josh Karanja SR Eastern Michigan 32:18.2 34 35 Adam Sprangel SR Michigan State 32:18.4 35 36 Randy King SR Cincinnati 32:19.1 36 37 Caden Shields SO Purdue 32:19.2 37 38 Joseph Dimambro SO Michigan State 32:21.9 38 39 Sammy Kiprotich SO Central Michigan 32:23.2 39 40 Riak Mabil JR Central Michigan 32:23.3 40 41 Cole Hardacre SO Indiana 32:26.4 41 42 Ryan Gasper JR Wisconsin 32:28.4 42 43 Kyle Mena SR Eastern Michigan 32:28.6 43 44 Jake Walker JR Notre Dame 32:29.4 44 45 Adam Green FR Ohio State 32:29.8 45 46 David Brent SR Eastern Michigan 32:30.6 46 47 Tony Jordanek JR Kent State 32:30.8 47 48 Zack Jones JR Oakland 32:31.1 48 49 Kris Gauson JR Butler 32:33.3 49 50 Dustin Voss SR Michigan State 32:34.1 50 Results - Men 1 Wisconsin 39 4 5 6 7 17 42 70 Total Time: 2:38:16.40 Average: 31:39.28 2 Michigan 62 8 9 11 10 24 84 86 Total Time: 2:38:55.50 Average: 31:47.10 3 Butler 104 2 16 18 19 49 76 77 Total Time: 2:39:43.20 Average: 31:56.64 4 Notre Dame 124 1 20 28 31 44 57 67 Total Time: 2:39:59.90 Average: 31:59.98 5 Indiana 169 22 23 32 41 51 56 68 Total Time: 2:41:23.90 Average: 32:16.78 6 Michigan State 178 26 29 35 38 50 80 101 Total Time: 2:41:32.10 Average: 32:18.42 7 Eastern Michigan 234 34 43 46 53 58 63 83 Total Time: 2:42:35.10 Average: 32:31.02 8 Ohio State 253 25 45 54 60 69 74 Total Time: 2:42:53.00 Average: 32:34.60 9 Miami (Ohio) 257 12 33 64 66 82 85 128 Total Time: 2:43:08.80 Average: 32:37.76 10 Kent State 299 27 47 62 75 88 102 Total Time: 2:44:14.00 Average: 32:50.80 ? 12:25PM Mountain Women Team Results (UPDATED**) - Texas Tech wins , New Mexico 2nd, NAU 3rd, BYU 4th Individuals - Sally Kip 19:32 (TT) 1st, Badaru 20:12(TT) 2nd, Pohl (NAU) 3rd 12:29PM South Central Women Results - Women 1 Mericle, Nicole JR Rice 20:34.7 1 2 Bedell, Erin JR Baylor 20:41.4 2 3 Munoz, Christina JR Texas A&M 20:43.3 3 4 White, Catherine SO Arkansas 20:49.2 4 5 Jones, Nichole JR Baylor 20:53.6 5 6 Bradley, Danielle JR Baylor 20:56.8 6 7 Bargiachi, Denise SR Arkansas 20:57.1 7 8 Pye, Allison SO Rice 20:59.4 8 9 Waite, Lennie SR Rice 21:03.6 9 10 Kalmer, Christine SR Arkansas 21:04.9 10 11 Ronoh, Anne SO Tex. A&M-Corpus 21:05.4 11 12 Forish, Rachael SR SMU 21:07.0 12 13 Jimenez, Betzy Texas 21:08.8 13 14 Rosen, Jillian SO Arkansas 21:09.7 14 15 Fjortoft, Silje SO SMU 21:14.0 15 16 Perkins, Dacia SR Arkansas 21:14.5 16 17 Williams, Britany JR Rice 21:29.3 17 18 Hardwick, Claire FR SMU 21:30.8 18 19 Aldea, Stephanie FR Houston 21:31.9 19 21:31.83 20 Slaughter, Elizabeth JR Texas A&M 21:31.9 20 21:31.85 21 Barnes, Jessi SR Baylor 21:38.2 21 22 Salisbury, Lauren Texas 21:41.0 22 23 Mecke, Dana JR Texas-San Antonio 21:42.8 24 Kerth, Whitney SR Ark. Little Rock 21:43.4 23 25 Jackson, Megan JR Arkansas 21:50.3 24 26 Behm, Mia Texas 21:57.3 25 27 Wade, Becky SO Rice 21:57.8 26 28 Hulett, Jodi SR Baylor 22:01.9 27 29 Korra, Monika FR SMU 22:02.6 28 30 Selner, Danielle JR Texas Christian 22:02.9 29 31 Simmons, Jessa SR SMU 22:03.1 30 32 Determan, Tenley SR Texas State 22:06.2 31 33 Van Wyhe, Renae JR Baylor 22:06.4 32 34 Izzaguire, Carolina JR Texas-Pan American 22:06.7 35 Dawson, Kelly FR Texas Christian 22:08.1 33 36 Ganter, Stephanie FR Stephen F. Austin 22:09.4 34 37 Geyer, Larkin Texas 22:15.1 35 38 Pettigrew, Ilyssa SR SMU 22:17.5 36 39 Shaw, Katie SO Baylor 22:18.9 37 40 Montoyei, Everlyn SR SE Louisiana 22:21.4 38 41 Mojtabaeezamani, Laleh Texas 22:24.9 39 42 Learch, Samantha FR Arkansas 22:27.7 40 43 Anderson, Sierra SR SMU 22:29.6 41 44 Ivandic, Tanja SO Texas Christian 22:30.1 42 45 Johnson, Courtney SO Tex. A&M-Corpus 22:31.7 43 46 Phillips, Aubrey Tulane 22:36.5 44 47 McNorton, Kasey SO Texas A&M 22:37.6 45 48 Bullin, Heather JR Texas State 22:37.7 46 49 Shackleford, Amy SO Stephen F. Austin 22:40.0 47 50 Garcia, Starla FR Houston 22:40.7 48 Results - Women 1 Arkansas 51 4 7 10 14 16 24 40 Total Time: 1:45:15.40 Average: 21:03.08 2 Baylor 61 2 5 6 21 27 32 37 Total Time: 1:46:11.90 Average: 21:14.38 2 Rice 61 1 8 9 17 26 59 64 Total Time: 1:46:04.80 Average: 21:12.96 4 SMU 103 12 15 18 28 30 36 41 Total Time: 1:47:57.50 Average: 21:35.50 5 Texas 134 13 22 25 35 39 54 65 Total Time: 1:49:27.10 Average: 21:53.42 6 Texas A&M 186 3 20 45 50 68 Total Time: 1:51:01.00 Average: 22:12.20 7 Tex. A&M-Corpus Christi 222 11 43 55 56 57 84 Total Time: 1:52:11.90 Average: 22:26.38 8 Texas Christian 239 29 33 42 66 69 73 82 Total Time: 1:53:32.70 Average: 22:42.54 9 Stephen F. Austin 246 34 47 51 52 62 80 Total Time: 1:53:30.70 Average: 22:42.14 10 Houston 281 19 48 60 76 78 96 99 Total Time: 1:54:44.10 Average: 22:56.82 ? SOUTH CENTRAL MEN Results - Men 1 Songok, Shadrack SR Texas A&M 29:52.1 1 2 Kosgei, Samuel SR Lamar 29:55.5 2 3 MacPherson, Scott JR Arkansas 30:07.2 3 4 Kigen, Festus JR Texas Christian 30:35.0 5 Morse, Jake SR Texas 30:36.9 4 6 McNab, Kevin SR Texas A&M 30:43.7 5 7 Fernandez, Eric FR Arkansas 30:53.7 6 8 Kasagule, Francis JR Lamar 30:59.8 7 9 Ondrasek, Kevin SR Texas A&M 31:02.1 8 10 McClary, Andy SR Arkansas 31:08.1 9 11 Boyer, Lane SO Arkansas 31:12.6 10 12 Sauvageau, Joe JR Texas A&M 31:18.0 11 13 Campos, Idillio SR Texas-Arlington 31:18.4 12 14 Robson, Aaron SR Rice 31:18.5 13 15 Bible, Mitch JR Texas A&M 31:19.0 14 16 Simmons, Jacob SR LSU 31:26.3 15 17 Chinchar, Michael SO Arkansas 31:27.2 16 18 Bean, Drew SO Lamar 31:31.3 17 19 McClary, Alex SR Arkansas 31:37.9 18 20 Strong, Patrick SO North Texas 31:39.0 19 21 Luis, Nava SR Texas-Pan American 31:40.8 20 22 Berhane, Habben JR Texas 31:42.9 21 23 Rooney, David FR McNeese State 31:48.3 24 Samoei, Hillary JR Lamar 31:48.7 22 25 Rop, Henry SO SE Louisiana 31:48.8 26 Gras, Victor SR Texas 31:56.2 23 27 Elliott, Rick FR Arkansas 31:57.8 24 28 Kemboi, Kalphys SO SE Louisiana 32:01.9 29 Morris, Brad JR Rice 32:03.9 25 30 Bwambale, Frank SR Lamar 32:08.4 26 31 Dinnel, Kinsey SR Louisiana Tech 32:14.9 27 32 Hernandez, J.J. SR Texas-Pan American 32:19.6 28 33 Vance, Scott SO Tex. A&M-Corpus 32:23.1 29 34 Bucknell, Simon JR Rice 32:23.6 30 35 Rhodes-Davey, Brian FR Texas 32:24.2 31 36 Mahipala, Keith JR Stephen F. Austin 32:25.3 32 37 Simmons, Brock FR Texas 32:28.7 33 38 Burciaga, Eric SR Tex. A&M-Corpus 32:30.1 34 39 Sherman, Logan JR Texas A&M 32:32.5 35 40 Batey, Aaron JR Ark. Little Rock 32:33.7 36 41 Ramirez, Angel SO Texas-Pan American 32:36.0 37 42 Cook, Michael FR Texas-San Antonio 32:38.5 38 43 Florek, Michael JR LSU 32:39.2 39 44 Najera, Roberto SO Texas-Pan American 32:40.3 40 45 Maxwell, Justin SR Rice 32:46.2 41 46 Tunningley, Rory FR Texas 32:48.9 42 47 Chautin, Richard SO LSU 32:49.2 43 48 Giano, Billy SR North Texas 32:49.3 44 49 Alukuyang, Moses SO Arkansas-Pine Bluff 32:50.7 50 Yeats, Dennis SO Stephen F. Austin 32:51.7 45 Results - Men 1 Texas A&M 39 1 5 8 11 14 35 49 Total Time: 2:34:14.90 Average: 30:50.98 2 Arkansas 44 3 6 9 10 16 18 24 Total Time: 2:34:48.80 Average: 30:57.76 3 Lamar 74 2 7 17 22 26 60 100 Total Time: 2:36:23.70 Average: 31:16.74 4 Texas 112 4 21 23 31 33 42 71 Total Time: 2:39:08.90 Average: 31:49.78 5 Rice 164 13 25 30 41 55 69 88 Total Time: 2:41:47.80 Average: 32:21.56 6 Texas-Pan American 181 20 28 37 40 56 92 108 Total Time: 2:42:35.30 Average: 32:31.06 7 LSU 212 15 39 43 48 67 97 103 Total Time: 2:43:32.50 Average: 32:42.50 8 Stephen F. Austin 251 32 45 50 58 66 98 Total Time: 2:45:18.00 Average: 33:03.60 9 Tex. A&M-Corpus Christi 283 29 34 63 70 87 91 Total Time: 2:46:40.30 Average: 33:20.06 10 Baylor 288 52 54 59 61 62 68 72 Total Time: 2:46:33.40 Average: 33:12:39PM Northeast Men (Official) =========================================================================== 1 46 Iona 2:39:02.6 ( 7) =========================================================================== 1 Mohamed Khadraoui SR 31:11.6 5:01 4 Harbert Okuti SR 31:28.8 5:04 5 Andrew Ledwith SR 31:28.9 5:04 11 Chris Vizcaino JR 32:06.1 5:10 25 Alexander Soderberg SO 32:47.2 5:17 =========================================================================== 2 88 Providence 2:41:36.1 ( 7) =========================================================================== 2 David McCarthy SO 31:13.4 5:02 13 Richard Yeates SR 32:13.7 5:11 18 Hayden McLaren JR 32:29.3 5:14 27 Dominic Channon FR 32:49.4 5:17 28 Michael Anderson JR 32:50.3 5:17 =========================================================================== 3 103 Columbia 2:42:55.8 ( 7) =========================================================================== 17 Jeff Randall SR 32:23.2 5:13 19 Brendan Martin SO 32:32.8 5:14 21 Ross Turner SR 32:36.6 5:15 22 Tom Poland SO 32:38.5 5:15 24 Bobby Hartnett JR 32:44.7 5:16 =========================================================================== 4 122 Dartmouth 2:42:15.6 ( 7) =========================================================================== 3 Ben True SR 31:26.1 5:04 8 Glenn Randall SR 31:48.1 5:07 23 Chris Zablocki JR 32:40.2 5:16 42 Alex Hall JR 33:09.3 5:20 46 Kevin Treadway JR 33:11.9 5:21 =========================================================================== 5 161 Syracuse 2:43:52.4 ( 7) =========================================================================== 9 Brad Miller JR 32:01.2 5:09 10 Dan Busby JR 32:03.3 5:10 38 Tito Medrano FR 33:08.1 5:20 44 Steven Weeks SO 33:09.5 5:20 60 Patrick Dupont FR 33:30.3 5:24 =========================================================================== 6 172 Cornell 2:44:25.5 ( 7) =========================================================================== 12 Zac Hine SR 32:07.8 5:10 20 Adrien Dannemiller SO 32:34.2 5:15 43 Sam Luff SR 33:09.4 5:20 47 Peter Loy JR 33:15.4 5:21 50 Nate Edelman SO 33:18.7 5:22 =========================================================================== 7 238 UMass Amherst 2:46:15.0 ( 7) =========================================================================== 29 Nils Fischer SR 32:52.4 5:18 31 Jonathan Pierce JR 32:54.7 5:18 51 Jesse Regnier SR 33:18.7 5:22 57 Kevin Johnson SO 33:23.9 5:23 70 Andrew Mulvaney JR 33:45.3 5:26 =========================================================================== 8 276 Harvard 2:46:33.4 ( 7) =========================================================================== 6 Daniel Chenoweth SO 31:29.8 5:04 32 Chas Gillespie JR 32:57.5 5:18 69 Brandon Jarrett FR 33:44.8 5:26 84 Stephen Chester JR 34:09.7 5:30 85 Ryan Neely SO 34:11.6 5:30 =========================================================================== 9 283 New Hampshire 2:47:40.5 ( 7) =========================================================================== 37 Nicholas Decrescenzo SR 33:07.4 5:20 40 Benjamin Jenkins SR 33:09.1 5:20 45 Brent Powers SR 33:10.6 5:20 75 Wesley Dinnan JR 33:59.0 5:28 86 Joshua Kearns JR 34:14.4 5:31 =========================================================================== 10 294 Marist 2:47:46.7 ( 7) =========================================================================== 26 Girma Segni SR 32:49.1 5:17 33 David Raucci SR 32:59.6 5:19 58 William Griffin FR 33:26.2 5:23 82 Timothy Keegan SO 34:06.1 5:29 95 Conor Shelley JR 34:25.7 5:33 Northeast Men Individual: PLC Name CLS TIME PACE TEAM TEAM PLC PLC BIB ==== ============================ ==== ======= ====== ====== ==================== ===== ====== ===== 1 Mohamed Khadraoui SR 31:11.6 5:01 IONA Iona 1 1 613 2 David McCarthy SO 31:13.4 5:02 PROV Providence 2 1 692 3 Ben True SR 31:26.1 5:04 DART Dartmouth 3 1 551 4 Harbert Okuti SR 31:28.8 5:04 IONA Iona 4 2 616 5 Andrew Ledwith SR 31:28.9 5:04 IONA Iona 5 3 614 6 Daniel Chenoweth SO 31:29.8 5:04 HARV Harvard 6 1 581 7 Timothy Ritchie SR 31:44.0 5:07 BOST Boston College 7 1 451 8 Glenn Randall SR 31:48.1 5:07 DART Dartmouth 8 2 545 9 Brad Miller JR 32:01.2 5:09 SYRA Syracuse 9 1 766 10 Dan Busby JR 32:03.3 5:10 SYRA Syracuse 10 2 761 11 Chris Vizcaino JR 32:06.1 5:10 IONA Iona 11 4 621 12 Zac Hine SR 32:07.8 5:10 CORN Cornell 12 1 532 13 Richard Yeates SR 32:13.7 5:11 PROV Providence 13 2 696 14 Jon Anderson SR 32:14.0 5:11 ARMY Army 14 1 414 15 Duriel Hardy JR 32:17.4 5:12 BROW Brown 15 1 459 16 Tim Hodge JR 32:18.8 5:12 STON Stony Brook 16 1 755 17 Jeff Randall SR 32:23.2 5:13 COLU Columbia 17 1 519 18 Hayden McLaren JR 32:29.3 5:14 PROV Providence 18 3 693 19 Brendan Martin SO 32:32.8 5:14 COLU Columbia 19 2 516 20 Adrien Dannemiller SO 32:34.2 5:15 CORN Cornell 20 2 528 21 Ross Turner SR 32:36.6 5:15 COLU Columbia 21 3 520 22 Tom Poland SO 32:38.5 5:15 COLU Columbia 22 4 518 23 Chris Zablocki JR 32:40.2 5:16 DART Dartmouth 23 3 552 24 Bobby Hartnett JR 32:44.7 5:16 COLU Columbia 24 5 514 25 Alexander Soderberg SO 32:47.2 5:17 IONA Iona 25 5 620 26 Girma Segni SR 32:49.1 5:17 MARI Marist 26 1 653 27 Dominic Channon FR 32:49.4 5:17 PROV Providence 27 4 689 28 Michael Anderson JR 32:50.3 5:17 PROV Providence 28 5 685 29 Nils Fischer SR 32:52.4 5:18 UMAS UMass Amherst 29 1 774 30 Alex Felce JR 32:53.0 5:18 STON Stony Brook 30 2 752 31 Jonathan Pierce JR 32:54.7 5:18 UMAS UMass Amherst 31 2 782 32 Chas Gillespie JR 32:57.5 5:18 HARV Harvard 32 2 585 33 David Raucci SR 32:59.6 5:19 MARI Marist 33 2 652 34 Ryan Bloom SO 33:00.4 5:19 BUFF Buffalo 34 1 477 35 Jake Gallagher SR 33:02.0 5:19 YALE Yale 35 1 806 36 Josh Hibbs SO 33:06.2 5:20 IONA Iona 36 6 612 37 Nicholas Decrescenzo SR 33:07.4 5:20 NHAM New Hampshire 37 1 658 38 Tito Medrano FR 33:08.1 5:20 SYRA Syracuse 38 3 765 39 Chris Gaube JR 33:08.7 5:20 BING Binghamton 39 1 431 40 Benjamin Jenkins SR 33:09.1 5:20 NHAM New Hampshire 40 2 661 41 Ry Sanderson JR 33:09.1 5:20 CENT Central Connecticut 41 1 498 42 Alex Hall JR 33:09.3 5:20 DART Dartmouth 42 4 540 43 Sam Luff SR 33:09.4 5:20 CORN Cornell 43 3 535 44 Steven Weeks SO 33:09.5 5:20 SYRA Syracuse 44 4 769 45 Brent Powers SR 33:10.6 5:20 NHAM New Hampshire 45 3 668 46 Kevin Treadway JR 33:11.9 5:21 DART Dartmouth 46 5 550 47 Peter Loy JR 33:15.4 5:21 CORN Cornell 47 4 534 48 David Emerson SR 33:16.0 5:21 BOST Boston College 48 2 445 49 Chase Pizzonia SR 33:17.5 5:22 IONA Iona 49 7 618 50 Nate Edelman SO 33:18.7 5:22 CORN Cornell 50 5 529 12:47PM ?check out links to results here: http://www.flotrack.org/sc/2008xcD1regional 12:54 Midwest Men- Ok State, Minn, Tulsa, Iowa st, Missouri, Southern ILL, Iowa, Kansas Individual - Mead (Minn), Rombough (Minn), Kosgei (Ok ST), Beettie (Tusla), Fernandez (ok st), Vail (ok st), Chirchir (ok st), McFall (Iowa St), Schirmer (S. ILL), Davidson (tulsa) Midwest Women - Minnesota wins, Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa, OK St, Kansas St, Kansas, Missouri State, Iowa St, Missouri Individual - Marchand (Iowa), Bizzari (Ill), Cheruiyot (Missouri St), Duwell (Minn), Johnson (wichita st), ramos (kansas st), crawford (nebraska), charrizales (nebraska), ingel (ill), waters (oklahoma) Ryanf http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Ryanf/5051-live-ncaa-regional-updates Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Thumphrey/4603-a-new-york-minute-or-138-minutes-almost-139 I haven't blogged in a long time, letting my repsonsibilites lag. But, I haven't had a whole lot to talk about. In any case, I was a partcipant in the NYC marathon this past weekend and this is a condensed version of 2:18:38 of a hard run. ING NYC Marathon This year was my first real marathon in over two years, and what blew me away is how interested people were in this race. As many know, I was barely able to walk going into the 2007 Olympic Trials and the only reason I went was, well, it was the Olympic Trials. Upon my return to Michigan from the ING NYC Marathon, I was bombarded with congratulatory emails and requests for details of how it went. And, when Peggy asked me to share, I could only be happy to oblige. Hopefully, this story is interesting, but more importantly educational in the fact that elite athletes go through the same feelings as every other runner out there. Coming into this race, I was ready, no doubt about it. My fitness was the best it had ever been and I thought there was no way I would walk away without a personal best. On Sunday, November 2, 2008, I toed the line with some of the greatest marathoners ever. True, some are in the twilight of their careers, but they are still legends. They are still the best. The weather was cool, almost cold, sunny, and breezy. Of course, the wind was in our face for most of the race. However, I was calm and ready. I couldn’t believe that I wasn’t nervous. We blasted off to the ringing of cannon fire, but quickly fell into a very pedestrian pace. Granted, we were running up the side of the Verrenzano Bridge, but when we came through the first mile in 5:55 (goal pace was 5:03), we were a touch slow. The second mile was down the bridge and we came through two miles in 10:53. From there, a decent sized group took off and I ran the next mile in 4:59, but alone. The fourth mile was a repeat of the third, and by 20 minutes of racing, in a race of 40,000 people, I was alone in every sense of the word. This ended up being my race mistake. I had a choice to make, and I chose the wrong one. Instead of staying with the lead group, I chose to back off. Now, if I would have stayed in the group, I would have realized that everybody had settled down within the next couple miles and I would have been in the race that I wanted. Instead, I panicked and thought they were way too fast. So, from 4 miles to 26, I was left to fend for myself. It was hard because even by 10 miles I felt like I was running too hard. Maybe if I would have stuck with that second group, things would have felt a little easier. We'll never know and it's hard to speculate. I ground it out the best I could. With the wind in my face and no shelter, I just ran. At halfway, I was 1:07:32 and nobody in front or back. Listening to the crowd cheering, there were only cheers when I went by. I didn’t hear anything from people behind me and heard nothing in front of me. At 25k I saw my last mile split and it repulsed me, so I stopped looking at my watch and thought- just focus on people. I saw a small figure at about 17 miles, way off in the distance. That was my goal. I caught them within a mile. At 19 miles, I saw Kevin, who told me the next guy was Jim Carney. Again, I caught him within the next few minutes. This process repeated itself a couple more times as I weaved through the Bronx and back into Manhattan. When I hit 23 miles, my thoughts couldn’t keep me together any longer. I was too tired to be tough. I just wanted it to be over. I thought about retiring from running, getting a full time job, moving away, maybe just disappearing to the Montana countryside. Amazingly, I was still passing people. At 40k, I passed Hendrick Ramalla. When I did, I thought, “Oh no, I made a move to fast! He’s going to outkick me.” I laugh now at the thought of two turtles battling it out down the finish stretch. Could you imagine how painful that would have been to see? Making my left hand turn into the park, I saw it -the giant finish banner that would finally bring me peace. I tried to resemble a runner as I made my way home, but at that point, you have no pride. Your only thought is survival and luckily I did. Crossing the line met me face to face with Mary Wittenberg, the President of NYRR and race director. She gave me a hug and said, “Fantastic job, Luke! I think you were 10th (actually 11th). It was a tough day today.” I think I grunted my approval and my man Sam G. pulled me out of the finish area so I could get some dry clothes on. So, in the end, it was no grand re entrance onto the world marathon stage. On the other hand- I was 11th in the biggest marathon in the world. You can’t exactly complain about that. Behind were faster guys. Some Olympians had enough and dropped out. I guess that makes me feel better. It is hard though, because you train so hard to not have things go perfectly. But, what I did learn was that you control your destiny. If you want to do great things, then it is up to you to put yourself in position. It’s not just the training, but executing everything down to the smallest details, having faith, and just letting go of outside perceptions. So, another learning experience. At 27 I sometimes feel like I am over the hill, when in reality, I am a young marathoner with 6 marathons under my belt - 4 being under 2:19 and 2 being 2:15. I haven't nailed it yet, but I guess that's why we keep trying. Thumphrey http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Thumphrey/4603-a-new-york-minute-or-138-minutes-almost-139 Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:13:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Xcrun04/4498-3-weeks-300-miles I am nearing the end of the biggest training block of the season and I feel great. Two weeks ago I ran my first 100 mile week of the year. I structured it like this: Week 1: 5 am, 10 pm Monday; 15 pm Tuesday(3 mile warm up, 10 mile tempo, 2 mile cool down); 5 am, 10 pm Wednesday; 12 pm Thursday; 6 am, 12 pm Friday (workout); 10 am Saturday; 15 am Sunday Week 2: 12 am, 6 pm Monday; 5 am, 10 pm Tuesday (workout); 6 am, 10 pm Wednesday; 6 am, 6 pm Thursday(travel), 8 am Friday; 13 am Saturday (4 mile warm up, 5 mile race, 4 mile cool down); 18 am sunday Week 3: 6 am, 10 pm Monday; 4 am, 10 pm Tuesday (workout); 6 am, 12 pm Wednesday; and presumably 12 pm today; 4 am, 10 pm tomorrow; 10 am Saturday; 16 am Sunday My legs are responding very well to this volume and hopefully with a taper and some good workouts I will be as ready as ever to run at the NCAA championships. The Chico teams did amazing at conference as we dominated both the men's and women's races. Hopefully we can sweep the regional meet next weekend and be ready to kill the nationals in Slippery Rock. Xcrun04 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Xcrun04/4498-3-weeks-300-miles Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:17:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Natejenkins/4489-respect <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> </xml><![endif]--> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> So I’m sitting at home doing what I normally do which is tour the running websites. I watched the NYC video’s on the American press conference here on flotrack. Now to be totally honest I am a pretty cocky guy. I think its part of getting good you have to believe you can do it or it will never happen. But anyway they had a press conference for the Americans and I was bothered that two of the athletes they highlighted were guys who finished behind me at the trials and who had slower PB in the marathon then me. Now don’t get me wrong, Carney and Rohatinsky are better then me and having better years then me, but still it stung a little. Not so much that I had a problem with the NYRR decision to put them in the press conference. What it did upset me about is how I have not followed up my run at the trials with the type of running I needed to do to prove myself. So where did I go wrong? First I failed, absolutely failed, to fix my hip/hammy problem. Then I let myself get anemic. I also got caught behind the eight ball, planning races on the assumption that I would fix the hip/hammy and not planning based on my actual situation. Also I didn’t expect results quick enough and I need to be trying more different types of treatment until I get this thing under wraps. Still I can’t feel like I slighted myself I ran a great race last November despite some set backs and the same hip/hammy problem I’m fighting right now, but I didn’t back it up well. I ran a lot of races but really I only ran two decent races, both in September, and two ok races. That is out of 12 races for the year, and some of those were just horrible. I had two DNF’s and three races in July that were just embarrassing. By running like this I end up sitting at home watching Flotrack instead of being on it. So moving forward how do I fix this? First we start on Sunday, where I need to run well in spite of my hip/hammy. It is probably going to slow me but frankly my fitness is in the kind of place where I should still be able to run pretty well, like at the trials last fall. Second I need to fix the hip/hammy I honestly believe that if I can move past it I am only a few weeks from a 2:10 or better marathon. Third I need to train for and race in races that won’t bother the hip/hammy until I get it fixed, so I’ll focus on indoor track first. When I get the hip/hammy on the run I need to do training that will bother it less and allow me to get race ready without getting it re-aggravated. I have found those workouts and I will be ready for my next race. I am focused and confident that I will in the next year fix my hip/hammy and keep it fixed long enough to properly prepare for a marathon where I can show that I am an American marathoner worthy and demanding of the public attention and respect. Natejenkins http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Natejenkins/4489-respect Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:11:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Mklewy/4488-i-love-nyc I LOVE New York City This weekend I will have another chance to compete at the ING New York City Marathon. If you have never witnessed this race, all I can say is that I hope one day you will have the privilege to run the race or be one of those badass spectators. The ING NYC Marathon is the place to race in the fall. I will give you 3 reasons why I strongly believe that: 1. The New Yorker Road Runners Club puts on the most professional event in the world. The support and care they provide to the athletes is beyond what I have experienced even at the Olympics. If any organization has the experience and understanding of performance at the highest level, it would be the New York Road Runners. 2. Then there are the most passionate and loudest spectators who love this even and stand by you from the start to the end and finishing in Central Park in spectacular. 3. Only the best marathoners travel from all over the world to grasp the opportunity to compete in this race because this is the most challenging race in the world and you want a shot at performing your best here on the streets of NYC. After a 10 hour journey from the bay are to NY, I made it to NY safe. The weather was rough and the ride was very bumpy and I don’t get scared very often. This is why I usually arrive in NYC 3-4 days prior to the race to acclimate to the time change and allow recovery from traveling. On Thursday I will attend a school function and do a Q&A with young kids, which will be a lot of fun for me. On Friday, I will attend the marathon expo with the Saucony crew, sign posters and talking to runners about our final hours of preparation for the race. I will then rush to my hotel room and glue myself to my computer and my cell phone to get updates on the Pac 10 XC Championships. I will be cheering for the CAL Bears as they toe the line and compete in Oregon. The cross-country season is coming to an end and the best is yet to come for the Bears. As a full time coach, a mom and a marathoner who trains on average 120 miles per week, I find the final days of marathon preparation a treat. There is very little running going on, lots of rest, massage, stretching and visualizing the best race scenario. Because of my delayed start in marathon training caused by knee accident in Beijing, I had to approach training a little differently. I was very fit going into Olympics, went through a taper before the Olympic marathon, but did not finish the race, took a couple of weeks off and had to start up again 7 weeks from the NYC marathon. I went through ups and downs at first and finally 3 weeks ago I started to feel strong in my workouts and confident in my training. I am excited to get back out and compete against the best marathoners in the world. Many athletes ask me what I do the day before the race in regards to training and nutrition. I always go for a 30 min morning run, stretch out and light massage. I take a nap and attend the technical meeting for the elite athletes where all the rules of the game are presented to us. I sip on GU2O through out the day to get my fluids in and electrolytes. I eat small snacks frequently and rest. Then the fun part comes; I get to fill up my water bottles with Tango-Mango GU2O and duck tape my GU Energy Gel to some of the bottles and I turn the bottles in before I head out for an early pasta dinner with my husband. I love relaxing the night before with Riche, as he is the most supportive person in my life. He takes all the stress away from my shoulders and keeps me positive and relaxed…just the way I like to feel before races. Best of Luck to the Golden Bears at Pac 10s this Friday and a former bear Bolota Asmerom at the ING NY marathon debut! Go Bears, Chewy Mklewy http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Mklewy/4488-i-love-nyc Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:16:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Mark/4401-12-days-to-go There are 12 days until I run the ING NYC Marathon and I am excited to see what I can do. I have been training since Sept 1st and I think things have gone pretty well. When I threw the idea out of running a marathon in Beijing Terrence Mahon, Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor's coach, said that I did not have the patience for it. I think he might have been trying to push my buttons but in reality it has been hard to stay focused. 25 mins into my first run when my legs started to hurt, my stomach began to wrench, my shoulders tighten and my mind questioned my sanity and if Terrence was right. I knew that if I did not make it public I would not run the marathon, so I went home and wrote a blog. Now we are 12 days out and training has gone pretty well, I still have no idea what kind of shape i'm in and what kind of time I am capable of but everyone is telling me to go out slow......... I don't know if that is my style. Everyone talks about this "wall" but what fun is it to be scared? Then I start to wonder what kind of patience Terrence was talking about......Was it in training or on race day? That being said I have to be a lil smart bc I will have to do interviews after I finish the race and I can not be in the medical tent, bc I dont think Kara, the Black Cactus or Kim Smith will come to me after the race. I am excited to see what I can do with a couple weeks of training after a 2 year hiatus from running but I am also excited about the NYC marathon and the field they put together. Both the Men's and Women's races are going to be a lot of fun. The NYRR do a great job of promoting the sport and Mary and the gang did it again this year and are giving you a chance to win a car! When Abdi and I met Mary Whittenberg from the NYRR on the top of the Great Wall she was so amped about the marathon and making it fun for everyone. Mary was bouncing ideas off all of us on the way home from the wall an her goal was to get people excited about the elite field and she had two Toyota's to make things interesting and interesting she made it. The result of the ride from the Great Wall to Beijing was www.pickandrive.com. www.pickandrive.com is the contest of all contests, if you pick the top three places in the men's race or the top three in the women's race in NY you have a chance to win a New Toyota Prius! I am super excited bc Flotrack was a part of the process and helped with the website. Check out the website Here and come back next week for a chance to win some Flotrack gear........... which is almost as good as a Toyota right? Cheers, Mark P.S. If you care about my training check it out here Mark http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Mark/4401-12-days-to-go Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:07:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Mollyhuddle/4337-infinity-and-beyond I’ve done a lot of analyzing and looking backwards in the last few journal entries. I’ve looked back into the season’s mistakes to glean from them morsels of wisdom and lessons which I can apply not only in sport but also in life. (In fact, I’m writing this article backwards, from the last sentence up. It just sort of worked out that way (I didn’t do it on purpose). Anyway, for a change I’ll be looking refreshingly into the future with this entry. Actually, one more look back at this week: I wanted to mention that I was glad to end my season on a high note at the US 10k champs in Boston. My coach had actually lightened up my workouts a lot before that race, in combination with being more diligent with the dietary supplements I take, and it helped me feel more lively in the last miles when I was previously fizzling out. It actually came down to a kick the last 300m or so between myself and Aziza Aliyu and Tebya Naser of Ethiopia. Aziza went all out just a few steps too early, something I’ve done before myself, so I was able to get a step ahead of her just as the tape came up. It was the highlight of the season for me and despite the slow time, a national championship win is just that and I am grateful for it. Moving on, a popular question is, what is next? For most people, the time to start the year anew is January 1st. But for the professional track athlete, that time is right about now, give or take a few weeks. So I’ll be taking the obligatory two week break from running. Some years I skip this but I’ve been stale for a few months now so I thought it was a good idea. I’ve also changed a few small things for when I start running again, to carry through the year with me. I’ve added a few things to the strength training plan and learned a few new stretches as well. In general I’m going to be more organized with “all the little things” like seeing the chiropractor and getting massages and all that. As for the race plan, I’m hoping to run a few indoor meets in the winter which I want to do for numerous reasons. Firstly, a donkey can always benefit from racing under distance. Additionally, the big indoor meets have the unique atmosphere of intimate spaces with rowdy crowds, strobe lights and techno music. For those of you that don’t know me (a small number I’m sure otherwise I’m surprised you’re reading this), anything involving DJ Sammy is my idea of a good time. After some of the indoor meets I hope to go to warmer weather to train for a month or so. I loved training in Tallahassee FL last year, and want to return, but coaches and training partners are moving around this winter so I may go somewhere new. Then I will be back in Providence in early spring and prepare for the early season meets in California. The goal for next spring is not unique-I want to make the World Championship team for Berlin, along with a lot of other fast ladies, so I have a lot of work to do. Mollyhuddle http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Mollyhuddle/4337-infinity-and-beyond Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:44:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Gabejennings/4325-the-yogi-runner Lately, I have been mixing philosophy with my running. It is not always a good thing, like when it paralyzes you in the Rosenzweigian sense--when real life experience becomes separated from philosophical wonderment. But as a whole I have been able to temper my reflection to a productive and manageable level. As I continue training for the CIM marathon this December I begin to add the 20 mile runs, longer tempos I am starting to feel a refreshing feeling in my stride. Partly, because of the intentionality behind my running. I begin my recovery run with pushups, core, yoga and a short dance tribute to Chango; I finish my run with a 400m sprint at 1500m race pace up a steeply graded hill; then I cool down with more pushups, core, and dynamic stretching. The rigorous discipline of a patterned routine keeps me very satisfied with the process. I have decided to run for fun! I don't want my (miserable) fitness to detract from the sport that I love. It is my hope that if I love what I am doing, then the fitness will come, the success will come . . . if I don't enjoy what I am doing, I stress, or worse neglect my training, which both lead to apathy and injury. So I might just be re-beginning this journey, but at least I am enjoying being a beginner. Today I began a metaphysical philosophy class on PRAXIS and method in religion, investigating the work of Franz Rosenzweig (died 1929). Rosenzweig critiqued Hegel's secular vision of the State, and offer a new vision of an integrated religious practice. Concurrently, I am investigating a method of integrating a religious perspective into my RUNNING. Borrowing from Schopenhauer and the East I find the YOGIC tradition to be a good model to harness health, happiness and peace of mind. As the self-proclaimed YOGI RUNNER, I preach the power of RUNNING MEDITATION. Although I have yet to gain immortal physical success with my new method, i.e. Gold Medal, titles and honors; I have gained a sort of ENLIGHTENMENT as defined by the eternal Kant and elaborated by Hegel--meaning immanent penetration into the life blood of my soul and the intricate web of nature. I have been reading the Register Guard daily and tuning into the CNN coverage on the presidential debates along with millions of my fellow Americans. There is something about this election that seems so crucial to our future, which has kept me captivated. Although, a certain part of me remains contemptuous of what I perceive to be the vulgar gluttony of so many of my fellow Americans; I am equally disgusted at what I perceive to be the herdlike unanimity and cheerleading of our intellectual elite. As I blogged last month, I was impresed with Palin entrance into the political arena and McCain's maverick, if controversial approach; which riles both liberals and conservatives. However, the past weeks I have become a follower of Obama once more. His spiritual tone of optimism, coupled with inteligence and magnanimous stately stature is irresistable. We need a spiritual leader who is political if we are going to change our disgusting American habits. And it is here in the realm of HABITS that I call the running world to action! Make health a meditation and inspire health as a meditation. And to the rest of you: Get off your fat ass! God bless! Gabriel Gabejennings http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Gabejennings/4325-the-yogi-runner Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:04:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Allenw/4326-yeah-i-know-you-were-right-you-were-right-all-along I just finished the Chicago Marathon and I'm very happy that I was able to run well considering the conditions. I want to thank Chad he was one of the guys I was running with in the first half. I also want to thank the organizers for allowing me to run the race I do feel very fortunate to be able to participate in such a great race. I always seem to learn a lot every time I run one of these things, the biggest lesson that I learned is that being able to share your experience with the ones that you love the most is more important than anything in the whole world. My mom and Dad flew over to see me race which was a good omen. They came over to see me at the Olympic Trials and I really did well there because I thought a lot about my father who went to the hospital earlier that year for cardiovascular problems. There is always a well of emotion that seems to be stirring in me when I'm in big races like this because my performance defines all of the work that I put in prior to the race. My parents also went to go see my Great, Great Aunt who turned 100 years old! My mom told me that she is still just as sharp as she was when she was young. I met her a couple of years ago and she would recite our family history, to us. What I'm really trying to say is that I feel like I have a purpose to do something positive for the sake of my family. I feel that I haven't accomplished that yet. I wish that I could take back some of the debacles in the past the things that I did wrong. I wish that I could take back La Jolla, and I'm sorry that I hurt a lot of people out there with my behavior. I think now though I'm heading in the right direction and I'm doing things for the right reason. My old college coach said I use to be a role model for the new runners who came in because I always trained and took my racing so seriously. I didn't know that the other people on the team gave a rats butt what I did. It turns out everybody is watching you and the people you know, or the people that know you are always going to be adversely affected by your actions whether you care or not. So I'm apologizing to everybody that has harsh feelings towards me because of my attitude, my actions or what I have said or wrote. I really don't want to be the cause of so much negativity in the lives of others. Please accept my apologies and I hope that everyone who reads this will avoid the mistakes I've made and I hope that your running is going well. Sincerely, Allen Wagner Allenw http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Allenw/4326-yeah-i-know-you-were-right-you-were-right-all-along Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:00:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Xcrun04/4223-more-xc Two races in two straight weekends and my final Collegiate Cross-Country regular season is over. I will not be racing again until conference and that is the start of the post season. Two wins isn't a bad way to do it either. Stanford was the first of the two and it was a great way to start the season. This was the 8th time that I had run the Stanford Invite and in that span I have only run the same course twice. Each year the course has gotten flatter but as we learned this year, that doesn't necessarily mean easier. Stanford was a bit harder this year than it was last year and the times show it. Either way I came into the race knowing that Aron Rono was going to be my main competition. I didn't take for granted that Stanford, Cal, or Arkansas could have someone vastly improved from last year but I knew that Aron was fit and was going to be running fast from the start. Since this was my first race I was reluctant to go out screaming fast through the first two miles so I knew I would be playing catch-up. I've been told that the announcer announced that Aron had 15 seconds on me at one point; I don’t know when he had his biggest gap but I certainly had my work cut out for me. In the last two miles I made every effort I could to get my legs moving faster and I could see the space between us fading a touch but not fast enough if I actually wanted to get him. With about 1000 meters to go there was a 20 meter downhill and I decided that it was my last chance to make up ground so I charged down the hill as fast as I could and used the momentum to catch up as fast as possible. Any worries that I had about Aron holding on and out kicking me at the end disappeared after I caught him as I imagine he used all of his energy trying to stay clear of me and didn't save much for a final kick. Aron must have been feeling Deja Vu from last year when I passed him with less than a mile to go as well. The last two Stanford Cross-Country Invites have been some of my hardest fought races of my life and I am proud to have come out on top of Aron both times since he is an amazing runner in his own right. Yesterday's race was a different experience. The Charles Bowles Invitational hosted by Willamette was our opportunity to race anyone on our team that isn't injured or sick and since we have a lot of people on the team, this was a big trip. We had 3 full 12 passenger vans and a few cars full of more athletes and our red shirts caravanning from Chico to Salem. This means that any bathroom stop is guaranteed to be at least a half hour and that we were going to be taking over some motels. We stopped in Eugene on the way up and I got to run on some woodchips for the first time since the trials. We went to Nike town, Pre's rock and did strides on Hayward field which was really cool for some of the younger runners as well as a chance for me to return for my home away from home for the next few years considering the 09', 11’, 12’ USA Champs/Trials will be there. Then we made our way up to Salem to jog the course and get ready for the race. I knew that there was a good chance that I wouldn't be challenged too much for the Individual title at Willamette but I still wanted to run a fast time. In the past the Willamette course has run very fast because the hills aren't too tough and the surfaces are pretty good for running but this year the course was really damp and the times were a bit slower. I got out really fast but settled into a bit slower pace and actually ran one of my slower 8k's in the past few years. The team had mixed results but we were able to sweep the Men's and Women's D2/D3/NAIA races pretty easily and bring home a few backpacks and water bottles. We also had some red shirts and youngsters do very well and I am confident that Chico will continue to be successful long after I'm gone. I was beat up from Stanford and I didn't have anyone to push me to a fast time but I also think I'm behind in fitness from where I want to be. The rest of the guys team might be a little bit as well. Luckily we have quite a few weeks before nationals to continue building our mileage and getting in some good workouts. In the past I have felt like our teams have been phenomenal in our early Invites and then Stagnant through the season but hopefully this year we can continue building through the finish. I am excited to run some more double days and for the weather to start cooling down. The regular season may have ended but it feels like cross-country is just getting started. Xcrun04 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Xcrun04/4223-more-xc Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:15:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Gabejennings/4253-marathon-plans The motivation for running a marathon has begun to stick in my soul like honey on ham. It has been a difficult and long road, but I have finally arrived to a peaceful state of mind. I returned from Cuba a little over one month ago, and have struggled to find my stride. The body hurts, my achilles pains, and my form feels stiff; yet these past weeks I have gradually progressed to 2 hour long runs, 5 minute miles, 1 - 10 minute hills, and 70 second quarters. The past two weekends I have climbed mountains, canoed rivers and lakes, dipped in hot springs, watched the stars late into the night and into the dawn, with a blazing campfire to rekindle the soul. Fall in the cascades is truly magnificent at this august hour. I have committed to the Monson Half Marathon near Boston November 9, the Seagate Turkey Trot in San Jose, November 27 and the CIM marathon in Sacramento December 7. May fortune shine! Gabriel Gabejennings http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Gabejennings/4253-marathon-plans Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:57:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Xcrun04/4126-its-go-time The first race of my final College Cross-Country season goes off tomorrow. I am excited and can't wait to see where my fitness is. In the last few weeks our team has had a few tough workouts. Last Tuesday we did 4 miles of two minutes at race pace followed by 1 minute (still) rest where I averaged 4:40 miles and followed by a full mile (uphill) in 4:45. Brendan (Scanlon) was very close and the rest of the top group was between 15 and 20 seconds behind him. Last Friday the team did a 10 mile tempo where I finished in 51:56. My first split was in the 5:teens and each mile after that was similar untill the last two miles where I ran around 5 flat and 4:55. On this Tuesday we ran another tempo run, this time the tempo was around 6-7 miles and gained over 1000 feet in elevation. I ran around 39:30 and since I'm not sure how far the tempo was I don't know what that pace is. I can tell you though that it was a tough workout but I felt very in control and could have kept going for a long time at the same pace. Yesterday we did our first speed workout on the track. The workout was 8 X 400 followed by a 1600. My 400's were 65,65,64,64,63,62,62,61 and my 1600 was 4:33. I have been a little sick this week and I felt a little tired but my splits don't really reflect that. I am very happy with my workouts and I think I'm ready for tomorrow. This week will be my third week in a row of 90 mile weeks. Next week I will take a down week of between 60-70 and then hopefully build up to a few 100 mile weeks in preparation for nationals. I am very excited about this Cross-Country season and I know it will be over before I know it. On a completely different subject: in the October issue of Running Times there is a small article about me. It was well done and gives a little insight into my year of running but I need to correct an error in the interview. I said that my favorite post-race/workout food is Chinese food but that my girlfriend won't eat it because Chinese restaurants are dirty. She would like me to mention that not all Chinese restaurants are dirty and that she likes Chinese food too. Xcrun04 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Xcrun04/4126-its-go-time Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:07:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Mollyhuddle/4004-nostalgic-for-xc Well it’s feeling more and more like fall around here, and though now my cross country season consists of about two races in the winter, I can’t help but think back on the days when the turning leaves made my stomach turn in nervousness and excitement for what was in my opinion the biggest and most important season of the year. I remember all those long, grueling workouts on hills, grass and muddy fields. I remember looking down a lineup of over 200 girls thinking I was trying to beat all of them. But never was I more nervous than when I was thinking of those other 6 girls wearing the same uniform as I was, looking at me with trust and a bit of a threatening gleam in their eye (because at some point you’re thinking “don’t blow it!”), all trying to make the season’s efforts worth while, make history and make the podium in the team standings. I can honestly say the four most nervous races of my college career always fell on that Monday near the end of November. It was great! The drama, the upsets, the emotion, the excitement, the limp bodies wobbling down the homestretch-it inspired heroic performances by underestimated freshmen and gimpy attempts by injured veterans; all was worth it if you could fit five in the top 100. It’s funny how now, there is a lot more at stake in my racing: Money, rankings, money, professionalism and oh yeah, money. Still, those things don’t make me as nervous or inspire me in quite the same way. It’s different when you’ve worked hard and laughed and lived with 6 other people for months, even years when all is said and done. I’ll never forget my first cross country season. At the NCAA meet I was in the top ten as a freshman and our team was third. Not bad, and it’s only upwards from here right!? Well, no, but looking back it all seems to have a golden glow. We didn’t realize how good we were, it was such a great time and we surprised ourselves every meet. I’ll never forget my last cross country season either-lots of ups and downs ensued in between the two. I struggled through the season half unfit all fall, being dragged through races and workouts by the others. We finished 3, 15, 34, 78 and…..191. Our usual number 5 had an off day and number 6 ran hard to take her place but it just wasn’t enough. I would have loved to go out with our highest team finish ever, but that number 5 is the most important runner and she really holds the fate of the team score. I’ve been close to the position myself (during one of those “downs” I mentioned before), and though sometimes I now try and kick down an extra girl for an extra thousand dollars, it’s not the same as a panicked effort to get your fading legs to move you ahead of a girl so your team doesn’t lose by one point. It’s one thing to let yourself down, but man it’s not a fun bus ride home when you’ve let down 6 competitive girls! We all have great stories from cross country-there are more than one person’s hopes at stake, and the shared victory is definitely sweeter. The best ones are of the things we do to get to the top! I myself have climbed a few sand dunes, and seen teammates lose their lunch in a workout or two and a few other hilariously disgusting scenarios will forever be in my memories. So to those who still have some xc left to race-make some memories, sling some mud! Even if you get sick in the last straightaway or lose a few shoes, (ahh memories, right Steph?) I bet you’ll still look back on it fondly some day. Mollyhuddle http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Mollyhuddle/4004-nostalgic-for-xc Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:38:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Mark/4002-chinese-medicine-the-ny-marathon-and-zio-marcolino XC season is about to really begin and we are starting to ramp things up here in Austin, TX. I returned to the good ole US of A on Aug 26th from China after 20 days in Beijing. Beijing was quite an experience to say the least and I have the photos to prove it. The best thing about Beijing was that your money went so far. Beers at the stadium were 65 cents and hot dogs (actually they were called sandwich hot dogs?) were $1. I felt like a king buying rounds and sandwich hot dogs for everyone. After 17 days of China I was getting pretty drained and following a walk on the Great wall with the Black Cactus I decided that I needed something to train for. Over the last two years I have not really trained for anything, other then the Flotrack Lueven 800, and I have not had any consistent training since my college days at UT. When I was at UT I always wondered how people could get out of shape after the ran track for so long, but it was starting to happen to me and I did not like it. To keep me sane and to lose a little weight I decided to run the NYC marathon on Nov 2nd. I needed a new start and everyone who I talked to was getting these foot and back massages and since I was the King of China and a 90 min massage was only 15 bucks a massage seemed like a perfect way to start my training. I went with a couple friends to a massage parlor in the famous Beijing ally ways. The place was a pretty small but it was packed with ex-pats who were trying to take advantage of how Cheap China was. I get the owner of the place, a man in his middle 30s, but I am no George Costanza and all I care about is a good massage. He went to work on my feet and waved his 10 year old son over to show him my callus. The kid was sitting there oohong and ahhing at how my feet looked. I told him that I had run a lot and he instantly thought that I was in the Olympics so I went with it. There were a couple tender spots on my feet and the man tried to explained that I had toxins and I needed them to be removed. He pointed at a card that said Chinese medicine so I thought that if I want to run a decent marathon I probable need to get these toxins out........ and when in Rome...... you get Chinese medicine. The guy pours some kind of oil on my back and then proceeds to go to town with a butter knife scraping up and down my back. This did not feel to great but I have had ART before so I could take it. Next he gets plastic cups, sprays some flammable fluid in, lights the fluid and sticks the cup on my back. I feel the skin suck up into the cup and I start to get a little nervous. The man proceeds to do this about 8 more times and throws a blanket over me. The cups did not hurt but they were not comfortable either. The scary thing was that I really could not move and I had no idea when they would let me off the table so I started to feel chlosterphobic. After about 5-10 mins he left me off the table and I went over to the mirror and I will let the pic do the explaining.......... I guess he got the toxins out? Anyway I am back in Austin, Tx and we are getting ready for XC. I love America and you never really know how much you love the USA until you are in a communist country for 20 days. I have been hitting the miles for the marathon and you can view my build up here on my log. The baby is my first nephew Marti'n. I guess that is it, if you have any advice for the marathon let me know. Later, Mark Mark http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Mark/4002-chinese-medicine-the-ny-marathon-and-zio-marcolino Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:55:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Martymsu/3962-my-sister-in-law-sara-is-running-a-womens-only-marathon So in San Francisco on October 19, my sister-in-law Sara is running the Nike Women's Marathon. It's her second marathon, but the special thing about this one is that she's doing it with Team In Training. Her inspiration is that her cousin Mike Schierenbeck was diagnosed and is being treated for a rare form of leukemia. She's been training hard, and she's almost reached her fundraising goal. I'm putting this online to try to help her get that last little bit of fundraising done since the deadline is September 24. I just looked and she's got $695 to go. That's 72% complete! Just to tell you a little bit about her cousin Mike, prior to his diagnosis, he was a Pastor in my church synod, the CLC (http://www.clclutheran.org.) Once he was diagnosed, he started undergoing various treatments, all of which proved pretty useless. He's undergone a stem-cell transplant, which seems to be yielding some positive results. So I'll basically get off the stage here and give it over to the latest letter from Sara: Hi everyone! I wanted to once again thank everyone who has already responded so generously. This will be your last training update! Last weekend, I completed my 18-miler, by the grace of God really! It wasn't just any old 18-miler. Those are tough no matter what. But it was a hilly run, and we were in the middle of a heat wave. For the first time, an ice bath sounded very appealing! I kept on thinking of a t-shirt that some teammates created. The front says, "Think training's hard?" And on the back? "Try chemo!" Puts things in perspective! We are so thankful that my honoree and cousin, Mike Schierenbeck, is doing well following his stem cell transplant. He says that he is very fatigued, but things are trending in the right direction. Please keep him and his family in your prayers! Just a reminder that donations need to made by September 24. And thanks to those of you who helped me get my new sweatshirt (half of the minimum raised by August 1). It kept me warm at the beach this weekend! Your financial support will not only help save the lives of those afflicted with blood-related cancers, but make their lives more comfortable and manageable while they are fighting against the disease. And in case you are wondering, over 75% of your donation goes directly to patient services and research. If you are so inclined, please feel free to forward this email and request with anyone who might like to help. Every contribution will have an impact, will be acknowledged personally by me, and will be appreciated by so very many. Please use the link in this email to donate online quickly and securely plus learn more about my progress. You will receive a confirmation of your donation by email and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation. http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/nikesf08/spfeiffer Each donation helps accelerate finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. More than 823,000 Americans are battling these blood cancers. I am hoping that this will help bring them hope and support. On behalf of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, thank you very much for your support. I greatly appreciate your generosity. In Christ, Sara Pfeiffer "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God." (Heb. 12:1-2) Martymsu http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Martymsu/3962-my-sister-in-law-sara-is-running-a-womens-only-marathon Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:42:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Francisccm/3917-just-two-dudes-rockin-in-china Well, I have decided to write a small blog post on how Beijing went for kibet and I in case anyone who voted for us in the Beijing Video Contest wanted to know. To be honest with you it was one of the most unforgettable experience of my life so far. Arriving home and having time to think over the two weeks I was there really hit me hard. After winning the contest everything seemed like a dream, I somehow in the back of my mind couldn't believe that I was actually going and for that reason didn't get too excited. Well the dream was short lived as I woke up when the plane landed on the tarmac in a foreign Chinese airport. Arriving at a beautiful hotel called the "Shang Yuan", I had the pleasure of meeting and seeing some families and friends of athletes who had booked their trips through Ludus tours. Notables included Brian Sell's wife Sarah and his parents Ed and Lois (Who instantly took a liking to Kibet, and he became their "Favourite Kenyan"). We also met the Brooks Hanson's Coaches Keith, Kevin and Don and a Marketing PR Manager from brooks, Jesse and his friend Gary, a pilot. Also some family of Dathan Ritzenhein were there with the tour. Anyway we had a fantastic time, the seats at the Bird's nest were great, I will always remember sitting close to the track when Usain Bolt broke the 200m world record or another night sitting in a suite with some great food and plush comfortable seats. That suite made Kibet and I feel truly special and just shows what great people Adam and Jess from Ludus tours are for giving us those seats. My favourite events were either the Marathon or the Mens 5k finals. I have rooted for Sammy Wanjiru for a long time and am just in awe every time I think about the things he has accomplished on the road racing circuit at such a young age. Kibet and I managed to get out a couple of times to run in Beijing, not the greatest city to train in, but the Hansons found a nice park close by our hotel, which was filled with traditional Chinese decor and beautiful ornate pathways. A great spot for the few runs we managed to fit in. Another Highlight of the trip was actually meeting Brian Sell and Dathan Ritzenheim at a dinner that Ludus put on after they had finished their marathon. I was too awestruck to say much during dinner but, that is life. I wonder if anyone will ever be too awestuck to say anything to me one day, when I am a Marathon Stud. I ended up buying a lot of Beijing merchandise and even haggled my way through some of it. I remember buying a dragon figurine and the seller telling me 280 Yuan for the starting price. I came in at 5 Yuan and he looked at me shocked, and every time he lowered his price I only brought my offer up one , from 5 to 6 to 7 and so on. Until I managed to get it for about 10 , which is about $1.50 , not bad haggling from someone with no experience. The plan for Kibet from here is for me to bring him to Canada next summer. With some good training in Kenya over the winter he will be ready for the road racing circuit. We will probably do a road trip though some big races in the U.S. also for about a month which will be fun. I will have to start contacting race organizers already for Elite hosting, the Ottawa 10k will be a big goal because there is a possibility of winning $12000. He is limited to high paying 10k's though because he doesn't want to run the Marathon yet. Either way from what I’ve seen in his training I am sure he will take anything he races by storm. So I want to say one last thanks to everyone who supported me for this trip and for Flotrack and Ludus for setting it up. I also wanted to tell Mark that we did try to meet him at the Heineken house on the last night at 10.30 but it was closed, twas too bad because I was looking forward to it. Anyway thanks for reading and peace. From Francis p.s here is a link to my full public facebook album with pics http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2194905&l=66869&id=122612378 Francisccm http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Francisccm/3917-just-two-dudes-rockin-in-china Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:22:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Tdotbunnell/4008-fall-training-continues-with-a-stop-in-brazil With the 20k champs behind me, I’m looking ahead to the rest of my fall training. I’ll be racing two more high profile events. The first is the US 8k national champs in two weeks. In the past, shorter distances like this haven’t been my strength. However the course has some hills so it should help me perform well against some quicker ladies. The second race is the World Half Marathon champs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This will be my second World Half team. Second to the marathon trials, there was one more thing I wanted to accomplish this year….make another world team. I feel extremely honored to have been chosen to represent my country. I have big goals for myself and thus far training is going in the right direction. In addition, I’m confident that our team will perform well. I haven’t seen a press release yet so I can’t name names, but I can say it’s a good team. I think we’re all capable of running under 74 minutes on any given day….and on a good day, we’re all running sub 72. I’ve put together some interesting stats from previous years: Best team finish, 5th place in 2000; Best individual places, 10th place Milena Glusac in 2000 followed by 12th place Sylvia Mosqueda in 2003. This research has me geared up and focused on my goals!!! Check out the additional USA world team stats below: 1997 11 USA 3:43:2033 PRICE Katrina USA 1:13:0753 CRAIN Jennifer USA 1:15:0554 TRUJILLO Maria USA 1:15:0859 MASUOKA Lorraine USA 1:16:0966 KRUSE Renee USA 1:17:11 1998 13 UNITED STATES 3:41:45 28 Jody Hawkins 1:12:38 42 STEELY Shelly 1:14:06 51 MCNAMARA Christine 1:15:01 61 PAINTER Trina 1:16:10 62 PAWELEK Kim 1:16:22 1999 10 United States 3:48:27 39 Byrne Michelle 1:15:55 39 Byrne Michelle 1:15:55 40 Fitzsimmons Lynn 1:16:14 41 McNamara Christine 1:16:18 42 Boyd Marie 1:16:37 53 Liljeblad Kelly 1:19:23 2000 5 United States 3:49:03 10 Glusac Milena 1:13:53 23 Beaney Kristin 1:16:20 35 Steely Shelly 1:18:50 42 Keeler Kelly 1:21:51 2001 8 United States 3:40:18 24 Glusac Milena 1:11:34 36 Mosqueda Sylvia 1:14:04 43 Beck Susannah 1:14:40 47 Hostetler Monica 1:15:21 52 Holinka Alison 1:16:36 2002 10 United States 3:50:49 52 Guiterrez Rosa 1:16:28 53 Demko Misti 1:16:51 54 Pawelek Kim 1:17:30 55 Somers Linda 1:17:38 56 Hostetler Monica 1:18:02 2003 10 USA 3:44:22 12 1:11:22 Sylvia Mosqueda 40 1:15:20 Magdalena Lewy-Boulet 48 1:17:29 Christine Clifton 52 1:18:03 Sara Wells 2004 7 USA 3:53:31 33 1:17:09 Emily Nay 35 1:17:40 Kimberly Fitchen-Young 36 1:18:42 Melissa White 38 1:19:48 Heather Tanner 2005 9 USA 3:49:50 38 Laura Turner 1:16:11 43 Jenny Spangler 1:16:41 46 Stephanie Bylander 1:16:58 48 Dorothy McMahan 1:18:44 53 Michelle LaFleur 1:20:36 2007 6 USA 3:34:26 16 Deena Kastor 1:09:38 27 Katie McGregor 1:12:01 32 Tara Storage 1:12:47 34 Desiree Davila 1:12:54 Tdotbunnell http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Tdotbunnell/4008-fall-training-continues-with-a-stop-in-brazil Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:14:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Xcrun04/3887-cross-country Cross Country is here and it is time to get excited. This will be my last collegiate cross country season and it could also be the best. This will be my third week of workouts as I try to catch up to my team and the rest of the NCAA who; for the most part, had the whole summer to train. Our season was kicked off by a weeklong camp by Lake Tahoe before school started. This gave the team a chance to congregate after a summer spent spread out in various locations, as well as a chance to meet the newcomers as well as get in some rough hilly runs at altitude. Camp was capped off by a tough 18 mile run on the Pacific Crest Trail (A trail that extends from Canada to Mexico). This was a run that 17 guys ran; almost tripling our highest ever total (6 from 2007). It was very exciting to see so many members of our team running so far. When we got to the finish I was as inspired as ever about running. This weekend will be the first race of the season for our team as they travel to San Diego… but I will be staying home. Like I said earlier, I am entering my third week of workouts and I’m not ready to race. If everything goes well then I will be ready to race in two weeks at Stanford and hopefully I will be able to defend my title. Either way our team is ready to race and hopefully they will go and show how good they are with or without me on Saturday. We have one of the deepest teams in the nation regardless of division and this weekend is our first chance to prove that. We will be sending full squads to San Diego, Stanford, Willamette, Conference, Regionals and Nationals and we will send partial squads to San Francisco, The Almond Bowl (local Chico road-race), and a 5k Time trial on our track. Tentatively I will also be racing the Seagate Elite 5k and the USATF Club Cross-Country nationals. I love cross-country and I can’t wait to get started. This year is going to be a good one! Xcrun04 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Xcrun04/3887-cross-country Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:47:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Jebreh.harris/3838-post-oly-trials-pre-training-again "It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." -Teddy Roosevelt A qoute i received from one of my dads classmates from west point. i got it after Trials. it made me feel a bit prouder My season last year, was ok. cant be mad about getting a PR (1:45.56). im not mad about the season at all. making the team would have been nice, thats one of the main reasons of running, not the only one. if it didnt hurt, i wouldnt be human. i made the finals in 2004 and 2008. this one was def tougher. all 8 guys going at it non stop for the full two laps. (it was more spread out in 2004.) ofcourse a bit of bumpin, grabbing, shoving,, thats the nature of the 8. the TV doesnt ever show everything that goes on in a race. the 3 guys that made it,, were the better guys that day,, congrats to them.. seriously. no need to cry over that. ther best a person can do is to react the best he can in that millisecond. the 800 was one of if not the toughest and most competitive race at the Trials. people will always say "you shouldve done this or that" in hindsite ofcourse... thats a given. everyone on the outside always have something to say. :) either way, i did the best i could during certain moments of the race. there will always be gym class heroes to point fingers, but they never made it that far themselves europe after trials was like having a hangover, as some peopel put it. you are drained emotionally, physically and mentally. a lot of people dont understand how it is or was. The races in europe, it took me a while to run halfway decent. i couldnt sleep and when i was,, i was sweating in my sleep. that happend a bit before the trials too. funny thing is, i wasnt the only american struggling post Trials. i was def ready mentally to get it going, i wanted redemption. a lot of things physically(injuries) just wasnt firing and i was running flat. it is what it is. there were some vids from there on this site. i got back to the States Aug 5th. it was a lil tough watching the olympics, but it was def easier to watch this time around rather than 2004. i didnt watch it in 2004. prob because im a lil older and more mature. it still was tough in the beginning, im all good tho. im human right? so now,, im def not working the bagel shop anymore,, that was crazy. 515am flipping bagels. now im working at this store on campus as a clerk, we sale ,, of course uni of Tennessee items there. better hours there. and also working some at this local health shop. so im not done running just yet. just have A LOT of "track business" to take care of this fall. so we will see how things go as far as my career of running. hey,, im getting faster as i get older and i still have the love to compete and train at this level. i will be a coach at a University one of these days. haha so any of you coaches reading this. keep me in mind when you see my application one day. we have a nice group of 800 guys here to train, Andrew Dawson, Paul Cross, Yarrick Kincaid, and Marc Slyvester. all former Tennesse guys under my coach George Watts. ill be joining their training next week. im about ready to get the blood flowing again. im still helping out coach Watts with the team also. not as much this year because i need to put some money in the bank this fall. but i suppose thats about it for now. im all good. working and running again. and just wrote two poems. posted them on myspace and facebook. so im back writing. "when a woman loves a man" and "6'oclock shadow" "political upheaval" is on its way too... working on that one now peace to all.... -Jebreh Jebreh.harris http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Jebreh.harris/3838-post-oly-trials-pre-training-again Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:42:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Natejenkins/3804-a-day-in-the-life <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui> </object> <style> st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> Natejenkins http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Natejenkins/3804-a-day-in-the-life Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:49:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Rhall/3753-post-olympic-blog This is not exactly how I envisioned it I thought to myself as I descended down the cement path into the quiet of the tunnel that would lead me into the Birds Nest. I had never physically been into the Olympic Stadium before but I had run through this tunnel thousands of times in my minds eye during training. For the past decade, whenever I ran through a tunnel I would always picture myself running into the Olympic Stadium, of course, in my dream world I was always winning the marathon, not struggling in 10th place. Never the less, as I made my way into the stadium I decided I would enjoy the moment. My eyes circled around the stadium in amazement. This is what I pictured heaven to be like. Coming down the homestretch I saw a sea of red shirts that made up a group of 15 or so of my family members wearing the Hall Believe t-shirts. I waved to them as a sign of appreciation for all they had supported me through. It was comforting to see my family. It had been a difficult two hours and twelve minutes of running and this final stage of my Olympic marathon would be somewhat of a consolation. As it turned out it was one of the most memorable moments of my life. My watch read 3:13 am when I first opened my eyes on August 24th. I had set my alarm for 4:30 am to be ready in time for the 7:30 am start but this was the day I had been waiting for my whole life and I was glad to have the night passed over and the day at hand. About half an hour after I woke up I heard a loud booming noise outside. I looked out the window and saw the most freakish lightening storm I had ever seen before. In hindsight I speculate that the Chinese may have seeded the sky because it was a super intense storm with lightening flashing brightly across the dawn sky for about ten minutes then there was torrential rain for two minutes and then it just seemed to vanish out of no where. It seems too random that there would be a freak thunderstorm just three hours before the start of the Olympic marathon. Regardless, I was glad for the clear skies and somewhat cooler temperatures. We headed out to Tiananmen Square on a bus at 5:30 am. The atmosphere was buzzing. I jogged for seven minutes with Dathan and Brian. The mood was lighthearted as we circled around on the cobblestones near the starting line. The temperature was slowly starting to rise so we slapped on our ice vests in an attempt to keep our core temperature low.Finally I was here. After years of struggle and wanting to throw in the towel I had made it to the start of the Olympic marathon. I took a minute to remember all the American guys back at home that hoped to be on the starting line. I wanted to do my best to represent them well. I fell to one knee and prayed, "Lord, I will do my very best for you no matter what happens out there." A few minutes later the gun fired. From the very first hundred meters Samuel Wanjiru, of Kenya, made it clear that he was feeling good. He sprinted straight to the front and asserted a fast pace. During those opening kilometers I was forced to make a tough decision: either go with the leaders and hope that I wasn't committing suicide or try and win by out smarting the lead pack knowing that they had gone out too hard and wait for them to slow in the later stages. I knew that above all I had to listen to my body, the pace felt fast and my breathing felt heavy, and when I finally saw the first 5k split (I never saw a mile or kilometer split before 5k) of just over 15 minutes I knew that I couldn't go out any harder than I was running. I also knew that if I kept running three minutes per kilometer I would win the race, however, much to my surprise three minutes per kilometer would have only earned me the silver medal. I figured the best plan was to run similarly to how I raced the World Road Running Championships in 2006 when I went out way slower than the leaders and worked my way up to a top ten finish. I saw my coach at 10k and he affirmed that the leaders went out too hard. He was right, the leaders did go out at a pace that they couldn't hold to the finish, but unfortunately for me, even before I hit the half waypoint I felt my legs tiring and tightening. I just wasn't as fluid or strong as I had been in previous marathons. By 30k I pretty much knew, by the sight of the helicopter in the distance following the leaders that I was slowing down more than the leaders. There would be no medals for me this time around. I set my mind on the only thing I could still accomplish in the race: giving 100% of all that I had on the day. I may not have my "A" game but I was determined to give all of whatever game I brought on the day. In hindsight I wish that I had gone out with the leaders and just hung as long as possible. I think the way I ran was smarter and probably did yield a higher finish than if I had gone out two minutes harder for the opening half, but part of me also wonders if I would have been more excited being with the leaders and been able to rally with some supernatural strength and pull off a medal. Although, if I would have blown up I know I would have been telling myself that if I would have just went out slower I could have held the pace all the way to the line. In the end, I wasn't physically on top of my game. I had put in a lot of hard work but for whatever reason my training hadn't been nearly as quality as in my previous marathons. I was running my tempo runs 10-15 seconds slower than is my typical. As an athlete this can be hard to swallow. When the big day arrives I want to have my very best, so naturally it is disappointing to only have my B, or C, game. After the race the disappointment was setting in, especially when I saw how fast Sammy ran. I couldn't believe that 2:06 was possible in those conditions. He clearly owned the day. It was also disappointing because I knew I had run with those guys before and had been able to hang till late, yet today I was six minutes back and six minutes back from my personal best. It is going to take some time to figure out why my preparations weren't as good as typical. Was it the pressure and anticipation of my first Olympics? Was it living apart from Sara? Am I just not as good as others in the heat and humidity? Was I trying too hard in practice or not trying hard enough? Did I not take enough time off after London? Should I have run London? The hard part about running is there are so many variables that come into play. Trying to identify the ones that really impacted your performance on the day can make your head spin. A little less than twelve hours after I ran into the Olympic stadium I hobbled back in to take part in the closing ceremonies. I stood just feet away from the three marathon medalist as they were presented their medals to kick off the closing ceremonies. At first I was bitter, I had worked so hard, sacrificed so much, and wanted so badly to be up there, but by the time the Kenyan national anthem had finished its last note my bitterness had melted into inspiration. I could see myself up on that podium. I know that it is possible with God, but even if it is not God's will for my life I will still praise Him and make the most of the gifts He has given me. What the Olympics has taught me is that I need to live a life surrendered to the will of God. It is my prayer that I will be able to have the same heart as Christ before He was nailed to the cross, "not my will, but Your will be done." Rhall http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Rhall/3753-post-olympic-blog Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:06:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Natejenkins/3751-twelve-day-festival-of-hammers <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui> </object> <style> st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> Natejenkins http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Natejenkins/3751-twelve-day-festival-of-hammers Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:19:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Jbarringer/3731-forever-but-not-always Hey all, Just a quick final post before this whole thing is all over and I'm back in Boulder. I'm didn't stay one day too short or one day too long. I'm ready for it all to be over but happy for each day with its own adventures and lessons. Last night a few remaining USATF team members walked to the dining hall together for a final dinner. We were such a small group! Then, just when Billy and I thought the trip was getting way too long and were really longing for that beautiful Boulder Valley, we ran into some more fun. The kiwis were having a lawn party outside their residence and we stopped by on our way back. We ended up making tons of new friends and danced the night away with them on our last evening in China. It was a blast. So, now Billy's sleeping in and I'm just packing up a final few things before we catch our bus ride to the airport at noon. I have had such a wonderful time here. It has been special to be one among a whole village of world-class athletes and be treated with such respect for the work and sacrifice it took to get here. There is a similar thread that runs through each of us that couldn't be found and tweezed out but is so clearly present in each of the people that were here. It's that individual "je ne sais quoi" that got each of us here. It's that extra element that goes beyond just working hard and being competitive. Anyway, it has been fun coming together with many talents and really getting to know at least a few. Now I'm ready to go home. I've realized how blessed I am to be in a sport that has such a supportive but not massive following. Within the running world there are thousands who love and support what I do and to all of you, a sincere thanks. I enjoy meeting and exceeding all of your expectations, hopes, and dreams for me. Along this ride we were all dreaming together. But, I also appreciate and look forward to being able to go back to real (and normal) life. Despite all of the attention around the Olympics, I expect to return home to chores, roommate and school responsibilities, check-out lines and a team document :). Just everyday stuff. While it is my honor and privilage to be an Olympian and I look forward to "forever being an Olympian," I also realize and am thankful I won't at every moment be an Olympian. Outside of this village are grumpy mornings, sprints to get to class on time, missing busses on snowy days, and lots and lots of friends that I feel close and equal to. This elevated level in my athletic career has had a huge impact on me but in everyday life and especially to those I'm close to I look forward to being the same spunky Jen that left Boulder on a grand adventure one short month ago. Thanks again for being a part of my journey. I can't wait to see so many of your faces in the next few days! Jbarringer http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Jbarringer/3731-forever-but-not-always Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Jbarringer/3701-another-asian-birthday Hey all, Well, just like last year I'm here in Asia for my birthday. I'm not really sure if I get to count it as my birthday quite yet because I still have four hours to go before it's really the 23rd of Aug. on the East Coast. Better yet, how about we start my birthday last night at 12am here in Beijing and let it go until 12am tomorrow night in Boulder. That would give me a 38 hour day to celebrate :). The past few days I've not done as much crazy rush-around sight seeing as I might have thought. After an understandably overwhelming month or two I've enjoyed sleeping in some and hanging out with Billy. We have hit up the big sights but have also taken time to relax and not stress about doing "everything," which is a nice change for me. Today will be much of the same. Billy is resisting the morning wake-up call but as soon as he's up well have breakfast a