Transition from XC to Track

Today marked the end of the Brandeis Mens XC season. The guys finished 24th at the NCAA National Championship meet in Cleveland, Ohio. While the team finish was not as low as the guys would have liked it to be (We were 20th the year before), Paul Norton's 7th place performance proved to be the highlight of the day.

Paul narrowly missed out on being an All-American last year. It's great to see that he broke the top-10 at the NCAA meet. He's been a much better runner this fall; More fit and a lot more competitive and his performances have indicated that.

Currently, I'm getting ready for Track. Doing a lot of core work, as well as lifting with many repetitions. The Cross Country season didn't pan out the way I would have liked it to have. I got "the flu" three times this fall. I don't know whether it was the flu, but from a period of early September to early November I got sick three times with symptoms being soar throat, a lot of coughing, and nose blowing.

It's a shame that being sick inhibited my performances this fall. I came into the season in the best shape of my life. I even managed to PR in the 8K by 30 seconds while being sick.

I'm trying to do the little things right now; like getting my sleep, eating healthy, doing core consistently, not going crazy on my runs. I think it will pay off for track... I also ran a lot of mileage this summer and early fall, a lot more than previous years.

After the UAA meet, I took 5 days off, then got sick again, so I decided to take some more time off. The past two weeks I've been running light just to get back into it slowly. The Winter track season is pretty long, and I want my best performances to come in February and early March.

Our first meet is the Northeastern Meet at Reggie Lewis in early December.
While I may not race in it, I think it will help get us all geared up for track.


In our locker room we have a white board where most of us try to put down our (serious and lofty) goals for the season. The XC season goals are whiped off, and are being replaced by track goals.

I'm curious to see what this track season will bring. We have a lot of talented track veterans returning, as well as some fresh newcomers. Mainly, Alex Kramer'13, a 9:17 high school 2-miler, who has not yet raced in a Brandeis Uniform due to injury this fall.

We return three runners who have broken 4:20 -- Ben Bray, Chris Brown, and Devon Holgate. Devon, a 4:14 miler as a sophomore, is looking to get under 4:10.
We also return 6 runners who have run 1:57 or better.
We have the talent to get a pretty solid DMR together. My goal for the team is to have an All American DMR this winter. Brandeis placed 7th in the DMR at the NCAA D3 Championship meet indoors three years ago, one spot off All American.

The season hasn't even begun, but I think it's good to have some goals in mind. My PRs for track and field are as follows:
400m - 52 seconds (Relay Split from High School)
600m - 1:25
800m - 1:57.4 (UAA indoor 09)
1000m - 2:36 (Tufts Meet 09)
1 mile - 4:22 (Brandeis Meet 09)
3k - N/A haven't run one yet
5k - N/A -- (16:10 FP high school)

My goal is to PR in every event I compete in.

Mid October update

Less than 2 weeks until UAA's, hosted by Case-Western in Cleveland, Ohio. I'm pretty lucky at this point to be on the top 9 going to the conference meet. First off, I might get to see my relatives who live out there. Second, I've been sick with flu-like symptoms and Strep-throat like symptoms for the past month.

Right now, I'm coming off a down week where I had to take 3 days off to shake this weird soar throat I had. It was so painful that it hurt even to swallow food or drink water. I went to the doctor's office, and was told that the lymph nodes around my neck are swollen and that I was still recovering from whatever I had a few weeks back (right before the UMD meet where I still PRd by 30 seconds despite being sick.)

Nevertheless, she gave me a flu shot and a H1N1 swine flu "mist" to help my immune system since the doses would be too small to adversely affect me.

I ran 6 miles yesterday, and 9 miles today, and finally feel 100%. I will consider last week an extreme "down week".
My season has gone like this:
Bentley race, finished first along with the top 4 guys, two 80-85 mile weeks, then UMD where i was 5th for the guys, then 2 weeks down like 60-50, then two weeks at 85, then New Englands where I was 6th on the team, but bombed.

So, overcoming this sickness has been a pretty ridiculous affair. It's been a month long process of recovery, and I guess I may have tried to come back too fast by running 85 mile weeks leading up to New Englands.

Anyways, the guys and girls have kicked ass. We've only run our full squad for two meets; the girls have not even run a full squad at any of the meets yet.
Paul has been dominating D3 runners, at New Englands he was right behind All American and 2 time Regional Winner Edgar Kosgei from Williams. Paul was 6th in the meet, out of all division 1 2 and 3 runners with an 8k time of 24:41. The time was so impressive, because he ran that same time at a much faster course (UMD) four weeks ago.


Dan Anastos ran a 25:26 this past weekend at the Albany invite. He was our #1 runner at the meet, we didn't race Paul, Chris, Marc, or Devon (our consistent top 4). It's a breakthrough performance for Dan, whose previous 8k best was 26:20. This should solidly put him up there with our top 4 which is great news for our team.

Dan has had his struggle with figuring out how to get to the next level during the past two years at Brandeis. I'm wicked proud of him for this race. It means a lot to me, and to him for sure. We were freshman year roommates, and he's one of my best buddies at school. We've been through a lot and it's awesome to see him get to where we knew he could be.

Our rankings will probably fluctuate a lot because not enough coaches will be aware of this, or even look at the results of the meets. John knows what he is doing, and he's playing it safe with a lot of our teammates who are coming back slowly from injuries or sicknesses.

The goal is to be ready for the end of the season; UAAs, Regionals, and Nationals.

Indoor track is also looming in the near future. UAAs is my main concern at this point, if I can get a few workouts in then I may be able to race well and possibly be in the top 7 that races at Regionals. It's not up to me, it's up to who will step it up at the next meet. We want our best 7 guys to run at regionals and nationals.

I'll update again soon. The season hasn't gone as well as planned, but I still may have a shot at racing well. I put in a ton of good work in August and September. Hopefully I can get back to the fitness I had during the beginning of the season, and if not, no worries, our best guys will run at regionals, and track is in the near future.

UMD

Been a little sick the past 2 weeks. Ran Umass Dartmouth invite last Saturday, placed 40something-th and was 5th on the team with a 30 second PR of 26:07. Actually I was 6th, since my buddy Ben ran 26:05 in the Sub Varsity Race.

Very proud of the guys, Paul got 3rd in 24:43, Chris ran 25:20, Marc 25:30, Devon 25:35. Sold run. We got 4th out of 37 teams.
Our girls kicked ass, they got 2nd in the meet, Grayce led the way in 18:24. 3 other girls broke 19 minutes. Solid race.


The tuesday workout before the race we ran another set of 10x600m on the grass.
The times we put down were much faster than the previous week's.

Feeling pretty fit, but right now I'm just running easy trying to shake this cold.
Today I woke up without feeling congested so that's a good sign.

Next race might not be till New Englands at Franklin Park. Can't wait, Franklin Park is a place I'm very familiar with.

In August, Devon and I ran a 25 minute tempo there. The place is in prime condition for racing, not too soft, light cut grass, and a well nourished bear cage.

A little tidbit on respect for my coaches

Recently an article came out in the globe about Steve and his progression as a coach at Newton South;

http://www.boston.com/sports/schools/articles/2009/09/13/winning_newton_south_cross_country_coach_shares_his_love_of_running/

Favorite quote by now senior Elizabeth May--

“He’s so good at getting the best out of you without yelling at you or pushing you,’’ said May. “He’s got this way of recognizing someone’s potential from day one and then he just gets it out of you. You see how much he loves the sport, how much it’s given him, and how much he gives to it. You want to work hard and be as passionate about it as he is.’’

Truth. I credit Steve mostly for getting me to feel passionate about the sport of running, even as a 15 year old. Steve, Matt Capstick, and my coach John Evans all have pretty similar coaching philosophies which is something I really value.
Steve and Matt really worked on my growth as an athlete, while John is now helping me realize my potential as a collegiate runner.

What I really respect about Steve, Matt, and John is their unconditional belief in my ability and progression as a competitor. Steve and Matt always believed in me, whether it was during a dual meet against LS and CC, or during the mile finals at the All State Meet.

John is very consistent with his goals and belief as well. After having a good race, he'll remind me that I'm in great shape and that it's to be expected; the good performances will come from the good training. When he talks to us one-on-one he'll tell us the goals he has for us. Sometimes I'm taken aback to how far (How fast) he thinks we can go. I really feed off of this self-actualization and belief in one's potential.

I can't thank my coaches enough really for the satisfactions and rewarding experiences I've had as a runner.

Brandeis vs Bentley race

This has been the team's first cross country race of the season the past three years.
Every year it serves as a mini indicator of our fitness coming off of 2 weeks of preseason.

The past two years I've come into this meet feeling pretty tired, and I've competed poorly, mostly in part to the fact that I ran too fast on most of my training runs.

Coming into the race, I thought that this year's race had the potential to be much different than the previous races. I had run a lot more doubles, been more consistent with training, and ran some pretty solid tempos.

Warmed up with the team. Felt pretty relaxed.


The race has always been held at Weston High School since it has a pretty good soccer/lacrosse field network that extends out to Weston's middle school.

The race is always approximately 6k, 6000 meters. Each year the course varies and each year it's not exactly 6k. Last year it was shorter... this year it was a little bit longer.

The race started off pretty slowly. We were running a little slower than tempo pace, but we gradually picked it up. The past two years I've always fell off the lead group after the first mile, but this year I felt pretty relaxed. Throughout the rest of the race, I ran in a pack with Dan, Paul, Devon, Chris, Ben, Ryan, and a few Bentley guys.


The last mile we started picking it up a bit. I was feeling pretty strong and, knowing that we would be finishing with 700 meters on the track, I started to accelerate a little bit knowing that there are not many places I feel more comfortable running on than the track.


Ended up just running the last part of the way with my 4 buddies; Devon, Dan, Paul, and Chris. We put a gap on the Bentley crew and the rest of the field and finished strong.


Overall, it was a great effort. Both Men's and Women's teams beat Bentley's comfortably.
I felt great running tempo effort with 4 of the guys.
We had a few guys sitting out that might have joined our top pack at the finish..
Alex Kramer '13 is our stud frosh. He has been running workouts with the top group but recently hurt his hip. He should be back running very shortly since he thinks its only a small strain.
Kerwin Vega'11, Zack Schwartz'11 should also be with us shortly. Kerwin ran 25:25 last year for 8k, Zack was our 5th man at nationals.
Marc Boutin'12 was our 2nd man at nationals. He also didn't run the race due to injury.
These guys are recovering quickly and could still have an impact on our top group of 5. We will need 7 healthy guys ready to go by regionals and nationals if we are going to do the big things that John wants us to do.
We're currently ranked 3rd in D3 Northeast, 13th in the nation. To live up to these expectations, we need to be healthy and ready to go by November.
Today was just a scrimmage, kind of a test of our fitness. We will put in a lot of good work the next few months and it will be important to do the little things; like getting sleep and drinking water in order to keep ourselves healthy and fit.

Our first big race is UMASS DARTMOUTH INVITATIONAL in 2 weeks. 8k, should be exciting.

Results,

Bentley v Brandeis Dual Meet @ Weston High School

September 4, 2009

Distance: 6,000m



Men Time

1. Sam Donovan, Brandeis 19.54

2. Devon Holgate, Brandeis 19.54

3. Paul Norton, Brandeis 19.54

4. Dan Anastos, Brandeis 19.54

5. Chris Brown, Brandeis 19.54

6. Steve Bergantino, Bentley 19.56

7. Ryan Cheng, Brandeis 19.59

8. Ben Bray, Brandeis 19.59

9. Alex Hulse, Brandeis 20.00

10. Andy Watson, Bentley 20.01

11. Jake Newfield, Brandeis 20.05

12. Will Collins, Brandeis 20.06

13. Dan Fava, Bentley 20.08

14. Mik Kern, Brandeis 20.10

15. Brian Sutherland, Bentley 20.12

16. Sean Reagan, Bentley 20.19

17. Ryan Salvo, Bentley 20.27

18. Tom Witherell, Bentley 20.29

19. Aaron Udel, Brandeis 21.28

20. Ray Chen, Brandeis 21.35

21. Gabe Kimbel, Bentley 21.46

22. Mark Jordan, Bentley 22.17



Team Score: Brandeis 15, Bentley 48

Entering XC 2009

Had a good week coming into pre season. Ran a few good workouts and ended up feeling pretty easy on most of my training runs.

First week of practice we went to the Chestnut hill Reservoir to run a tempo workout.
Had two main "fast" groups; dan,chris,alex, paul and me,devon,zack, and marc.
Zack and Marc ran 20 minutes for the tempo, Devon and I continued on to run 25 minutes. We covered about 2.8 laps.

The next week, we had another tempo workout at Chestnut hill Reservoir. Devon and I passed the spot that we had previously run 25 minutes in at about 24:10, so we kept going for another 50 seconds. That is a pretty good sign.

First race is this Friday against Bentley. An annual dual meet that covers 6km. John is having us train through the meet, so I will most likely be in the midst of a mid 80 mile week even with the race.

Feeling good. The most important thing for me is to be training comfortably and controlled. Previous experience has told me that if I feel good training, I should relax and not get excited because I have had the tendency to get tired and put myself in a hole.

This season looks promising. I'm coming off of an incredible summer of training. I've run more doubles consistently than I ever have going into a season and I'm running some really awesome workouts.
I will consider this race on Friday to be a success if I'm just feeling controlled throughout the middle and can kick home with my boys.

Preseason commences!

August 19th. First day of preseason. I've been living in Waltham at our house on south street for about a week now. Just a bunch of track guys living in a 3 story apartment.

Today we had our first preseason meeting. Met with Lynne and Lisa and filled out a few health forms. After getting the necessary info out of the way, we went on our first run as a team.

Without fail, we blazed our first run. 10 miles in about 64 minutes, ~6:24 pace on a very rolly loop called livingston tailor 10 or New Res 10 since it requires a lap around a reservoir about 4 or 5 miles in. And not just Res, since we run around the weston reservoir often and this "new" res is located in wellesley.

It's kind of a tradition that never fails. Our first week back we don't sit back on our training runs.
I'm a little concerned. Last week I ran 86 miles, a lifetime high. I want to take it easy this week, but most of my runs have been sub 7 minute pace.

What I'm happy about is that I feel good running sub 7 minute pace. I've never in my life felt this comfortable on training runs.

As we start incorporating harder workouts I want to be able to make sure I get my recovery days in. So I'll be looking to hold back on my following runs.

Had a BBQ with the girls team and our new freshmen today. Great success.
Looking forward to the rest of preseason.

11 miles on Prospect Hill

It's the 11th day of August. I had One week until the beginning of preseason. I just completed an 80 mile week, and I look to continue running high (actually lifetime PR) mileage.
Today was absolutely gorgeous
...if you were sitting in the shade. Outside, with the sun beating down on my back as I ran up the Waltham roads to the beginning of Prospect Hill, I felt like every single water molecule in my body was evaporating up towards the sun.
Not a cloud in sight.

But even with my body begging for water 5 minutes into my run, my legs felt very strong. From my apartment on South St. it's about a mile to the beginning of the Prospect Hill trail.
From there, it's only about a 7 minute uphill run to the outlook section.
I made it up to that part in no time, and my reward?
A glamorous view of Boston.

(not my pictures)


Felt pretty strong going up the hill. The top of Prospect is only some 800 ft above sea level. The outlook is about 500 ft, so it was another steep ascent on trails to the top of the climb. It lead to a nice view of Rt. 128, I-95 and overlooking the ex-polaroid factory and a few other commercial buildings.



Beautiful run. Not any pain in my knees on the downhills which I was worried about, but that's a good sign.
Side note: None of these are my pictures, they were taken by others lucky enough to get to the view checkpoints.
About to go eat. Waltham is wonderful. I get to hang out with my buddies, chow down, run, and work for a week. August is good. Sitting here listening to "Dont call me Daughter" by Pearl Jam.
Good song, look it up if you don't know it!!

The trivial month

August, for a cross country runner, would appear to be one of the most important months of the year other than November. This is the month where the training may seem the most important because it is the training that occurs in the month of August that seems to determine how good a runner feels in October and November during the Championship-Race part of the season.

Running too hard in August can lead to a feeling of tiredness later in the season. If you push it this month, you may feel like you're burning out in the later part of the season.

Very similar to what happened to me last summer.. Coming into sophomore year I had only run twice a day, twice before in my lifetime. Since I was working 9Am-4pm at a summer day camp (which was a great experience), I didn't have time to train the way I would have liked to. I would have ideally got up to 70 miles per week during the middle of summer with doubles which would have made 70 miles easier to run in one week.
Instead, I would run every day after work. So I was forced to run about 10 miles every day except for two days, my long run on Sunday (12 miles), and usually thursdays (8 miles).
I had come from a base of about 60 miles from my freshman year, with running 8 miles a day still not being easy for me. So this adjustment was tough. I found myself feeling tired all the time. By the time August came, I actually got sick for a week and my training during the month was severely altered.
Instead of being at 70 mpw for most of August, I had weeks of 40,50, then 60.

One more thing, ideally it's nice to take the mileage down when September comes around because when we're at school we start incorporating Key Workouts. Not just running every day, but having fast or long workouts twice a week, sometimes 3 times.
Running interval workouts like 8x1000, 12x600, or 5x mile or even a 25 minute tempo requires a lot more rest when you're just starting the season.

So to get back to my progression of last summer -- I ran too fast on my single runs during the summer, I didn't run enough in August, made up for it by increasing my mileage to 75 then 80 mpw in September while adding in workouts.
So by October, I was done. Legs were done. Felt pretty bad.
I came out of it okay, I ran 47 minutes for 8 miles in my training shoes in late November when I was kinda bummed about not being on the regional team. I just wanted to prove to myself that I was in good shape. I had been doing solid workouts all the way through the season, so when we started peaking and lowering our mileage in November I started to feel a bit better.

I'm determined to make this year different. See, it's a delicate balance -- summer training. You don't want to push it, but you have to be consistent.

My knee started bothering me 2 weeks ago, so I took 2 days off last week and now I feel pretty strong again. I'm wearing this knee pad underneath my left knee which has worked wonders. 15$ payed off.
I ran 80 miles 2 weeks back, then last week was mid 40s-- a down week.
The next few weeks I'd like to keep around 80-85.
80 is the most I've ever done, and it feels surprisingly great. I've never felt so good running doubles every day. I make sure my first run of the day is really easy.

Well!!!
I hope this continues to be a month of good training. I ran 14 miles on Sunday with a few Brandeis guys. I never felt so smooth on a long run like I did last Sunday. ran 14 in about 1 hour and 36 minutes and I felt like I could run 10 more miles. Legs never felt like they were burning, like they have in past year's long runs.

It's an unbelievable feeling.

I wish I could always feel that way. Not knowing how fast you are running, but just gliding along, every step transition of the foot and leg feeling like nothing, Lungs breathing, heart pumping at a relaxed but consistent beat. It's one of those feelings you live for. It's what makes us (runners) a different breed. We live for the ecstasy that is running. Sometimes it can't be explained. Sure, we all go through our ups and downs. But, nothing beats the satisfaction of pure running, and even the sense of accomplishment. I've seen guys that can't stop smiling after the end of a race, after running a personal best, even after pushing well past the point of exhaustion. The sport rewards hard work. Sometimes, it just takes while to get the rewards.

To summarize--
August is going to be an important month for me. I want to be consistent without pushing it too much. Just get myself geared up for the Fall.
If you ever see a bunch of shirtless hoodlums running by Walden Pond on Sunday mornings (around 9:30AM) then it's likely us (the Brandeis summer crew)
We run by here --


Good health.

5-6 weeks into training

So I just came back from my second run of the day, 8 miles at a pretty relaxed pace and effort. Probably about 7:10 per mile. I've come to realize that my pace fluctuates when running in Newton a lot since the majority of my runs have been on rolling hills.
Sometimes I'll be cruising at 6:45 pace, and other times I'll be "crawling" maybe 7:30 pace up a hill.

Either way, I like to think that I run at a pretty decent effort. Not too fast, not too relaxed. I like to make sure my breathing is in control, and I monitor my effort by how controlled my breathing is. In the past, I have found that my relaxed pace where my breathing is steady and relaxed is around 7:05-7:10 pace per mile when going anywhere between 5-15 miles. I'm sure that in the future this pace might become faster when I may become more fit.

I'd like to expand on something that Jon Waldron noted in his blog, that Good training, even smart training, is actually quite boring. It is training that requires running a similar distance day after day at a consistent pace.
Luckily for me, I actually enjoy running, even at at the same pace every day.
The key is consistency, and the ability to think about consistent training in the long term.

In anything you do, you may find that it's pretty easy to put off what you may want in the long term for what you want immediately. This can apply to anything; it's one of the lessons that I've learned through my experience with athletics.
This is one reason I find that many runners have a very strong sense of self, and respect for themselves and people in general. Because of this, I also believe that runners have a great deal of fidelity with many aspects of life.
My example; sure I may feel great one day and decide to run 8 miles at 6:30 pace. However, the next few days I'm going to dig myself into a hole and just feel like crap and probably crawl on some of my runs. Not very effective training.
To quote something (Coach) John Evans told me this year, "Just run 7 minute pace per mile on every single run. Don't worry about what others are doing, feel comfortable"

So,
After about 5 weeks of running, I'm finally starting to feel comfortable running. The first few weeks were pretty tough. I just felt like my legs weren't catching up with the rest of my body. I was struggling to adjust, but now I feel like I can run more miles comfortably.
I got up to 57 miles last week and I continue to build.

The training for the rest of the summer looks like this:
(Number of miles per week following this week)
65, 75, 80, 80, 60, 80, 85.
By the time I reach 85 it will be mid-august and time to return to school for Cross Country Pre-Season training.

If all goes as plans, I will run the most I've ever run in my life by August. My training has and will continue to go differently this summer. The past two falls (my freshman and sophomore years of Cross Country) I have come into the cross season feeling pretty tired and overworked, my races definitely showed that. A lot of that I attribute to trying to adjust to running more miles while running my runs with other guys a little bit to quick for my liking.

This summer, I have been running my runs to my own effort. I will continue to do that. When increasing your mileage, I think it's good to make sure your pace is a little bit slower just so that you can adjust easier. I don't think I did that in the past summers, I overworked myself.

Well, Cheers to Summer Training. One Goal: Make it into Fall feeling Fresh.

Breaking News!

1. THE GIRLS WILL (I hope this is true) BE DITCHING THEIR OLD BLACK UNIFORMS AND WILL BE WEARING THE BLUE AND WHITE STRIPES THIS FALL FOR THEIR CROSS COUNTRY UNIFORMS!

I'm very excited

2. The University switched its official colors to "Blue and White". Or something along those lines, so we cannot wear black shorts for our races.
What would be better? White shorts or blue shorts? This being with the stripes!

3. MEK IS HEALTHY!!!!!

I'm hoping this stays true for the rest of summer and into cross country.
Our team made it to NCAAD3 Nationals last year..

..without its number 1 returner from the past season.

What could a national-qualifying team be like with the return of our Ethiopian cross country brother? The UAA Rookie of the Year in Cross Country... MEK

Mekonen Gendebo hails from Cambridge, MA. His freshman year he ran 25:45 on the Franklin Park 8000 meter Cross country course in the pouring Rain. He then ran 25:30 at D3 regionals, barely missing an individual spot for nationals.

He has not been able to compete since the spring of his freshman year due to nagging achilles tendonitis that reoccurs when he starts running higher mileage.
He did not race all sophomore year...
...but if all goes well this summer.......I'm going to have a post in the fall saying Mek is back!

June update

Third week of training. Finally all my runs are not longer at 7:30 per mile pace. I'm feeling better while running. The first two weeks were terrible, I was struggling to run even 5 miles at a slow pace. This week I weigh 145 lbs, which is 10 pounds more than I usually weigh, so hopefully some summer training will trim me down, although my Mother says I may have grown a little.
The Brandeis guys have been sending updates to the "mens xc list" via e-mail. It's nice to see how everyone's training is going.

Last year we had a semi-shock at the beginning of August when it was revealed through a series of updates that Ryan, Kerwin, and Zack had all run over 100 miles during one week. It's always entertaining during that time of year to see what the teammates are doing... but it can also be quite scary.

Paul is in Kenya for the summer, training, and working with Chasing Kimbia. Paul Koech gave him his old cell phone. While flipping through the numbers Paul found names like "Paul Tergat" haha. No big deal, just old world record holders and sub 27 minute 10k runners in your near acquaintance.

Sorry, I like to go off on tangents. This summer looks promising. I will be doing the highest amount of training of my life during the months of July and August if everything goes well. Not too much more than last year.. I did hit 80 miles per week one week last September.

I'm working at Marathon Sports, and loving it. My first day of work was one of the most fun experiences of my life. I've told this to my close friends, but it's like walking into an unknown place for the first time, and after meeting a few people you're like THIS is where I belong. THESE are my people. Seriously, everyone is super friendly, really helpful, and a Running Nerd <-- the best part. The majority of the employees are not serious runners actually, the majority are in their mid/late 20's and either used to run competitively, or just ran for fun/ to keep fit in the past. The manager of the Brookline store has a Irish accent that may well rival that of THE John Evans. Great environment. No one is on commission, so it's not like any of the employees is pushing to sell shoes, they're really here to educate the customer about the right shoe through observation and extensive training on the gait cycle process. It's awesome stuff. I'm still a rookie.

In other news, Ava (my sister) did not make it to the finals of America's Got Talent in San Diego. It's too bad, they did pretty well by making it to New York City for the pre-final tryouts after the Boston tryouts. Next up, she wants to try out for So You Think You Can Dance, but she has to wait until she's 18.
So LEARN THAT NAME! Ava Donovan! In three years you'll thank me.

Not trying to be modest at all < / sarcasm>
Good health

A Great parting e-mail from Captain Jennings

"Dear Sam,

I never thought when you first beat me in that indoor two mile [In high school] by like 20 seconds that we would one day wind up as teammates and friends, but
I'm so glad that we did. I know that last two years have been tough
running-wise, but I think we have both learned a lot through the struggle.
For you, I really hope that knowledge will propel you to great happiness this year,
both in running and in the other more important part of life, everything
else. Just remember to trust in your training, trust in your coach and
trust in yourself. Only you know what great heights you can reach, and
only the belief in yourself will allow accomplishing your goals to
become a reality.

Have a good and (relatively) stress-free summer,
Matt "


While I was in the process of getting quotes for my last post, I decided to just make this e-mail its own post.

It's sad to see the seniors go, but they have done great things. Jennings was a very successful student-athlete at Brandeis.
Jennings has been a great leader, and I told him that he has given us (the underclassmen) the right tools to be successful. Individually, he has influenced me greatly.
He always believed in me, like John, even when I had my poor performances and struggles with injuries. He has always made sure that my head has been in the right place.

So,
Toast to you, Matt! Good luck in China!

2 weeks off, ready to go.

That time of year to start things up.

First off, I want to say congrats to Beth and Paul at Nationals.
Paul raced the 10k, the race seemed to go out pretty slow, but Paul kept his head up and finished 15th I believe.
Beth got 9th in the 1500,, very close to All American. She ran a 4:36 1500m earlier in the season to qualify for nationals (~4:55 mile).

Well, I'm ready to get things going.
I have been a ball of energy at home for the past two weeks, since I have not been running. It's a little unhealthy, I am too jittery and hyped up without getting a run in each day. I also tend to eat a lot less. Needless to say, I'm ready to start summer training.

For me, Summer running is a commitment all the way through and into the Fall Cross Country season. It's really easy to make excuses to not train during the summer.
For me, it's always good to remember what I want for the long term, not just what I immediately want.
So, I will be skipping appointments such as going to the beach, pool, out to boston, movies, hanging out with friends, parties, you name it just to get my runs in.
The guys on our team have a commitment to our training, and we think this year will turn out to be something special.

I want to share a few quotes that are somewhat motivating in terms of reminding myself that I can get a lot out of this as long as I keep my focus this summer.

(Coach) John Evans wrote this in an e-mail to the team:

" Now thoughts can turn to XC. It has the potential to be a awesome year, with both teams ready to do some great things. The little things will make the difference, and the foundation of the success will begin right now. Do the little things right during the summer -follow the schedule, listen to your body, stretch, keep hydrated, get enough rest and you will come back healthy and ready to go.

Paul sent this to the guys, but it is appropriate to both teams:

'As we've all heard over and over, the little things like sleep, diet, stretching and listening to your body will determine whether we get on that podium. Another thing I can't stress enough is to have confidence in your training. If you follow the schedule, making appropriate adjustments when necessary, you will come back in great shape. Focus on doing what's best for you and don't worry about what other people are doing, whether on our team or not. The process is 99% of our sport and what determines the end result, so make sure you enjoy it!' "

I agree with every single word.

It's gonna be a fun summer.

Figuring out where I'm at

I've been sitting at my computer for a few minutes after having come back from a 10 mile run. As I was sitting here listening to "Talk amongst yourselves" by Grand National, I remembered that I haven't updated my blog in a little while.

My outdoor season hasn't been that great, and I haven't performed nearly well enough to what I would have liked.

It's been an interesting season so far. I started off running some really solid workouts. I ran probably my best 4 mile tempo of college, ran a really solid 6,4,2,2,4,6,2,2 workout.. one that was close to what I ran in indoors when I ran 4:22, and before that when I felt I was in sub 4:20 shape.
I ran 60-65 miles per week every week, all in singles, with exceptions of a few down weeks.
I came off the 6,4,2 workout with a 4:09 1500m in my season opener. Wasn't pleased with it. After that race, ran a solid 400 repeat workout averaging 64 seconds for 400m.
Then I don't really know what happened afterwards, I took a few down weeks, ran a 1500m over 4:10, then ran a 2:01 800m going all out at CMU in Pittsburgh for the UAA Championship meet.

It was a tough time. For some reason I haven't been working out well after that meet.
The thing is, it is definitely me, something is going on.

My teammates are running superbly! The Guys ran a 7:47 4x800 at UAAs, and ran a 7:43 just yesterday at New Englands. We've had 3 guys run 4 minutes or better for 1500m. We've had 5 guys run 1:56 or better for 800 meters.
We have three girls who have run 4:42 or better for 1500m (5:00 mile equivilant)

So everyone is rocking! for some reason, my season hasn't been going the way I would've liked it.
John and I have been communicating well, after UAA's we talked about continuing to work out and trying to get a good race in at the Bentley High Performance Meets (May 20th, June 9th). I also started doubling once or twice a week and taking a day off on wednesdays maybe once a week or every other week to get my miles up to 70mpw.

So I'm at home now, school went pretty well this semester. Probably best GPA of my time at Brandeis.
The thing with my running now, is now that I'm at home I have a lot of time to rest up.
But for some reason I've been having hard times breathing on my runs this week.
Last week I took two days off, and ran a workout in which John made me stop early, and have now been feeling pretty cruddy on my runs at home.

I need to figure out what's the deal.
Maybe allergies are hitting me hard.

I'll be okay, only a little left before I take some down time (Probably in June) before Cross COuntry training.

The Right Stuff

I read a short passage out of Chris Lear's "Running with the Buffaloes" today that got me thinking a lot about the qualities of a "good" runner.
I'd like to share this passage, page 41 if anyone has the book:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Right Stuff

Steve Slattery's roommate is Matt Ruhl. Ruhl is a 9:29 3200-meter runner from Triton High School in South Jersey, and he is running the time trial in hopes of making the squad. He has been running 70 miles a week and feels fit, but he has his doubts. "You never know what's going to happen on any given day." His nerves are tempered a bit by what [Coach] Wetmore has told him, "Mark said me and this other kid got the best chance of making the roster this year. That helps me to see I'll do well at the time trial."

Wetmore is enthusiastic about Ruhl and the other aspirant's chances. "Almost all the guys who try to make it will make it. Those who don't get scared and run away." Those who do not make it are lacking what Wetmore refers to as "the right stuff."
" 'The right stuff' on this level," he says, "is some combination of these four qualities: talent, durability, determination, and courage. Not everyone needs to have a monster four, but everyone has to have some combination of the four of these. You need some level of all four, and not having one will kill you."

He offers himself by way of example. "If I came out for my own team, I'd cut me. I have no talent." But a lack of talent can be made up for by an overabundance of courage. "You're not gonna die," he says. "This isn't jousting, but some people are just petrified. They can't do it."
One guy not lacking in courage is Goucher. "Yeah," Wetmore says, "he's a big talent an he'll hold his hand in the fire. He's got above average courage. He'll go up against anybody. If there's a weakness, it's his durability. He's got allergies, chronically sprained ankles. But the allergies--Christ! they kill him!" He sums up his star pupil, with an eye to the future: "He's got three out of four. If he's got durability and can do ten years of one-hundred-plus-mile weeks, he'll have four out of four, and he'll be hard to beat..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Mark Wetmore was right about that one.
Goucher went on to be successful on the post-collegiate/ elite level. While he has a 3:36 1500m, and a 13:10 5km under his belt, he has rarely won any major international races (But has been close, mixing it up with World champions Eliud Kipchoge and Ben Limo of Kenya at the Prefontaine Classic in 2007)

Wetmore's point was that an athlete needs to have talent, durability, determination, and courage to be successful.
Well what determines each quality?

Talent -- does it come only from your genes? proper nutrition growing up?
People speculate about why Kenyans have run so fast. Talent is an interesting quality that is often tested through how well an athlete can perform without having been trained for a long period of time

Durability -- Probably meaning consistency with training, and lack of having periodic/long term injuries interfere with your training.
Ask Dathan Ritzenhein,

Pic: Famous picture of Ritzenhein holding off Ryan Hall (Who's running the Boston Marathon tomorrow) at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2003. Ritz, according to sources, was on the ground for 20 minutes gasping for breath after this race, the possible highlight of his collegiate career.

Durability this is probably his worst quality. He has had significant problems with injuries throughout his career as a runner. He has what Wetmore would call and "overabundance of Courage" like Adam Goucher. If you've seen Ritz run, you've often also see him do the Skeleton walk after finishing a race. He's tough as nails, extremley gutsy, and often pushes himself past his "limits" so to speak.

Determination -- To me this means motivation to train, not just hard, but to train smart and well. Determination can give you a level of confidence you need to be succesful. Determination can also come from knowing when and why you train how you do. When and why to take rest and train effectively. This is necessary for a good runner, confidence in yourself and your program along with motivation can help you achieve rewarding results.

Courage -- Guts. A few names come to mind, Steve Prefontaine. Leonel Manzano. You wouldn't question their courage if you've seen them race.
In my opinion, it's questionable if this trait or quality can be taught.
(Coach) Steve McChesney in high school took specific practice time early in the season for us to practice meditation and gave us mantra's such as FTD "Fight the Demons" which has been spray painted throughout Cold Springs Park for JV and Varsity runners to see while racing. Steve has helped a lot of his athletes with achieving a positive mentality and channeling it into their performances.

One athlete that I got to know in High school particularly well, Bridget Dahlberg, proved to me that this quality might just come naturally to some people.
Bridget use to openly complain about running. She would complain during workouts, runs, whatever and openly would tell Steve and her teammates that she didn't want to be doing whatever she was doing.
Her freshman year at South she ran some pretty good workouts. I was, at first, incredulous that she would perform well due to her seemingly negative attitude.
She proved me and anyone who doubted her wrong.
At the elite meet indoors (Her first mile race against the best girls in MA, including stud Jessica Barton of Newton North), she got off well, looked strong throughout the middle of the race, moved into the lead with 100 meters to go and gutted her way, holding off about 5 other runners to the finish line for her first major win on the State level. As a freshman!
She went off to be pretty successful, Running 5:01 that year, 4:51 as a sophomore. She's run 2:13 for the 800 as a senior.
I see it still now, it's like a spark goes off when she starts racing. This is a big compliment, and I mean it; she's one of the gutsiest racers I know. You wouldn't know it talking to her before the race, but when she races you don't doubt her courage.

So a lot of it (the perception of the qualities) is really up in the air.
Some could say it's just luck of the draw. Others can say, that's true, and i'll do the best I can with what I've got and work on what I need to, to get where I want to.

Blessed with good weather

The past two weeks have been solid weeks of training,
this week so far I've run 30 miles in 3 days total, last week was a 64 mile week, with my first week of training being 56 the week before.

Every Tuesday and Friday has been somewhat nice so far, we've been working out outside on the outdoor track under welcoming temperature and the sun's rays.

This past Sunday I had a wonderful (definitely the appropriate adjective) long run up comm. ave. Ran about 13 miles, it was just one of those runs where I was logging away without really feeling much. We got up slightly before 10AM, and headed to the gym. It was raining pretty heavily outside, temperature was about 40 degrees, but most of us opted to wear as little clothes as possible so that the rain wouldn't soak our clothes and add extra weight.

I wore no gloves, just a light rain-proof new balance jacket over my t-shirt and a pair of shorts. After a few miles we reached the part of Comm Ave by the Newton fire house where the marathon takes a turn from Washington St. Plenty of runners were out in the rain, and we got a lot of smiles, even a few waves and high fives.
I made it almost to BC before turning around. Felt pretty great, one of those runs where I didnt know how fast I was going but I knew my miles were going by pretty quickly. I ended up running through 12 miles in about 1 hour and 19 minutes, and finished the 13 in a little less than 1 hour and 26 minutes. Overall a good time in the rain.

Today we ran a 600,400,200,200,400,600,200,200 progressive workout.
Ran it with Chris, Marc, Mike Stone, and Devon.
To add a little bit of info on these guys;
Chris is a freshman who has run 4:22 this indoor even with taking time off to go to Rome with his family for a week where he basically didnt have time to train.
Marc is also a freshman who ran a 1:56 800m split at his last race which was at UAAs in New York City.
Mike is a senior, who ran 4:17 for the mile last year. Looking to get a solid final track season at Brandeis.
Devon is one of my roommates, a sophomore, who ran a 4:14 mile at BU this indoor, and split a 4:13 1600m in the DMR at UAAs a few weeks back.

Pretty good group of guys to work out with. Back to the 6,4,2's --
The rest varied, there was 2 minutes to 2 1/2 minutes between most intervals, in some cases it was more like 3 minutes.
Pretty quick stuff, our 600s were done in ~1:37-39, 400s in 62-65, and 200s in 27-29.
Felt pretty solid, worked out in my Nike zoom streak xc flats

Pretty good stuff.

This Saturday is the Stonehill Invite, only 2nd annual. It'll be a good meet to get some opening times and see how fit we are in early April. I might be running the 800, but I could also be entered in the 1500m which I would definitely like to race. I'll probably be running plenty of 1500s this spring if all goes well. Looking back on some of the workouts I did indoors, I ran a pretty similar workout as I did today near the time I ran the 3:08 1200m and 4:22 mile on a flat track. I'm definitely feeling fresh and ready to get more work in. Peace March.

Tempo

Ran a solid workout yesterday.
~4 mile tempo, I only ran for 20 minutes, Our first 3 miles were all around 5:20 and went down to 5:10 for the last 3/4 mile. Probably the best I've felt doing a tempo since coming to Brandeis. It felt a lot smoother than some of the tempos I ran last fall. Looks like the miles I put in this winter are paying off.

We run our tempos in groups, usually in a single file line. We have someone lead for a lap then head to the back of the pack, it's a pretty nifty way of running a tempo since everyone usually gets to lead a lap or two if the group isn't too big. We had a group of about 10 guys doing it yesterday, really solid stuff. Paul continued to run another mile at slightly faster pace after we finished our 20 minutes.

It's been a good week getting back. Runs have felt smooth and I've been getting a good amount of sleep each night. Ran 56 miles this week. Gonna get to some studying. I'll leave another update soon, hopefully after a few workouts and before my first outdoor race this year.

Gearing up for outdoors

What the indoor season proved to me is that my body is capable of running pretty fast.
I had a really long streak of workouts and got pretty tired, but after having taken almost 2-3 down weeks with almost no workouts I ran 1:57 at the Armory in NYC.

So, I'm starting run gear up for outdoors. I've been running about 8 miles every day this week with guys on the team. I've talked to John and a few of us will probably work out by the end of the week.

I'm excited to workout on the outdoor track. The track is still new, we've had no meets on it, but it's been around for only a few years.
Pic I took in the winter:


So with outdoors starting, I have this dilemma with my training.
I've talked with John, and we agree that I can have a pretty good outdoor season if I train well and know when my body needs some down time. It looks like I'll start running around low 60's for miles per week and try to get a few fast 1500m races in.

So that's the plan as of now, run some fast workouts without too many doubles and get some good races in.

I'm okay with that, but there's another part of me that is looking more long-term.
Part of me wants to run about 70 miles per week and double twice a week consistently this outdoor season.
The reason for me wanting to do this is that it will help me in terms of training this summer and next year. I feel that if I run higher mileage then my body will adapt to this level of training eventually and I will have fewer tired streaks.

From looking at what guys on the team have done to become successful, it seems that consistency in terms of training and running higher mileage brings really positive results. Paul ran 60-75 miles per week most of his freshman year and went from a 25:50 8k/ 15:08 5k runner his freshman year to a 25:01/ 14:40s 5k runner this year.

So I have that bargain with myself. If I started doubling and running more miles this spring then I probably will have fewer good races in the spring, but that's a bargain I'm willing to take if I can reach a whole new level of running next year.

I haven't had a good cross country season since high school, I've come into the fall of my freshman and sophomore year either tired of messed up from sporadic or ineffective training. Which has been completely my fault, I ran too fast on some of my runs in the past few summers.. and I had a job at a summer camp that kept me on my feet and tired on my runs.
I feel that a spring of running the miles would help me reach my potential as a cross runner as well as with track running next winter.

So those are my thoughts on that, I'd like to run a fast 1500m... but I think it's more important for me to start running the mileage and train smartly. I've been lucky that I've been consistent with my training this year.. I've been training at 60-65 miles for most of the winter, I even ran 80 miles last fall with no much time off. I am thankful for not having serious injuries that I have had in the past few years.

Anyways, we'll see what happens. Maybe a fast 1500m time after training with 8 miles every day/solid workouts and a longer run on sundays will make me change my mind.

Wrapping up the indoor season

Yesterday concluded what has been a season of consistent training that definitely produced a lot of positive results.

I started indoor training in the beginning of December and ran a few 60 mile weeks with some good workouts. Ran a 3:08 1200m on a flat track, a 1:58 at bowdoin the following week in January. Following that was the 4:22, 2:01 double at the Brandeis Meet. I put a 70 mile week in January. Really solid training. I got a tired streak towards the beginning of February, ran a few (what I think) sub par races including a 2:36 1000m and 4:25 mile. Took some down time, got ready for UAAs, started feeling like myself again.

We left Thursday morning for the UAA meet in New York City, did a short run at the Armory, and hung out at the hotel. Watched the Celtics beat the Cavs which was nice, not too nice was Glen Davis' flagrant foul on Varejao. Big Baby should've known better, that was a dirty block. VID: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95jPUwuU8ZM

Well, we got up Friday and were pretty excited to get things rollin. The 800m trials started off the distance events, Julia Alpaio ran a PR of 2:19 to qualify for the finals.
Next came my race, I was feeling pretty solid going into the race, did a few strides and felt like I was ready to get going. Race got out quick, I was at the back of the pack that went out in 27 for the first 200m, then 56 at the 400m.
I tried to move up but found myself still following 4 guys in front.
I ran 1:57.4 which ties my PR. Pretty solid, but there were 8 guys overall who ran 1:56 or better. I didnt make the final, in fact two of the guys who ran 1:56 didnt make it either, so that concluded my indoor season.

Solid run, I was sore the next day, so I know I can run faster. Our Womens DMR won, our Mens DMR got 2nd to Carnegie Mellon. Pretty good stuff, Matt Jennings 3:06 1200m (off of almost no training since he injured his quad a few weeks back), Ming ran a 52, Marc Boutin ran 1:56 (a big PR), and Devon anchored us with a 4:13.
Paul got 2nd in the 5k with a 14:50. Kate Warwick got 6th in 18:30.
Good stuff.

My 1:57 would have gotten 2nd overall in the UAA last year, this year it's not even top 10. Nothing I could do, the field was loaded this year. Those guys made my 1:57 look silly...
It's a good motivator, I want to come back next year faster and stronger, ready to make other racers in the UAA look silly.

My plan now is to relax for a week, take some days off, not run too many miles, and then start training well for outdoors and even for cross. I want to get my mileage up consistently. I think that will help me out next year, as long as I also stay healthy.
1500m outdoors... I haven't given it my best shot yet since last year I was coming off injury and didn't really race many 1500s.

This has been a great indoor season, it's really shown me that I can take my racing to a new level.

Championship time

This weekend is our conference meet, and for most of us the end of our indoor season. A few people, maybe a relay, might be going to nationals on the guys and girls side.

But for the most part this meet wraps up the winter season. It's the final goal of all from all of our training that has included below-freezing runs, and countless laps around the indoor track.

The UAA Championship will be in New York City at the Armory indoor track, which some think is the fastest indoor track in the world. Pretty exciting stuff. We leave thursday morning, and the meet is a 2-day meet scheduled from friday night to Saturday afternoon.

To give a recap of last weekend at All New Englands at BU,
Chris Brown ran a 4:22 mile.. but that was after getting shoved off the track with 500m to go. He was on pace to break 4:20 by a good couple seconds, so he'll get another shot this weekend.
My suitemate Devon ran one of his best races to PR in the mile by about 5 seconds. He ran 4:14 in a really solid race. His pace was pretty even.. went through 800m in 2:07.
He'll have a good shot at placing in the mile this weekend.
Paul ran the 5k, and got 4th overall with a time of 14:50, an 18 second PR.
Also the Girls DMR ran 12:12 to qualify provisionally for nationals.

We have a good crew going in.
I dont have John's official word, but this is what it looks like people will be running:
DMR: Matt Jennings 1200, Ming 400, Marc Boutin 800, Devon 1600
800m: Me and Aaron Udel
1 mile: Chris Brown, Devon, Marc Boutin
3k: Mike Stone, Paul, Dan Anastos
5k: Paul, Zack Schwartz

Although the UAA is a pretty competitive conference, we have a bunch of guys that could probably score.
The 800 will be interesting, they only take 6 guys into the final on Saturday. The trials are run on Friday. I'm pretty confident that if I run close to my PR in the trial I will make it into the final. The conference has 10 guys sub 1:58 according to the performance sheet. http://raceberryjam.com/uaamenindperf.html
My PR is 1:57.. but I ran 1:58 at Bowdoin on a flat track earlier in the season so I think I have a good shot at making it into the finals.

We ran a short workout today,
6x300. We kept it pretty chill and ran from 47-44 pretty relaxed. I felt good and I'm gonna try to run easy the next 2 days until the meet.
Gonna get pumped for the armory!

Good Bye Glycerin 6

Well, I have a day off today. Only a few weeks left in the season, My legs havent been feeling fresh for a few weeks so I think this day off is needed.

Instead of running, I'm just casually relaxing in my dorm room going over my current Running shoe situation. I'm in a current dilemma due to the discontinuation of the shoe model that I currently wear.
For the last year I've worn the Brooks Glycerin 6. They've worked perfectly so far, along with the orthodics that I was given from Mark Tuller, an Orthopedist. The combination of this neutral running shoe plus the orthodic has alleviated pain that I have had in my shin while running.

I've had this problem since high school, after running a few months of high mileage I usually develop shin splints in the area near my ankle and my lower shin. I've gone through a ton of different running shoes to help git rid of the shin splints. I'm usually recommended shoes with a lot of stability, but I haven't found the right fix for my shin splints since I used the combination of the Brooks Glycerin 6 and my orthodics.

I'll try to explain my basic knowledge of the differences between running shoes before I go on with my current dilemma.
Running shoes are sold on the basis of how much support a runner needs based off of his or her running mechanics, particularly the motion that occurs when a runner lands on his or her heel and what happens before the take off.
(I've worked with Shoes before, so I've had to explain this difference to customers before)

A neutral shoe, is a shoe that is generally recommended to runners who have high to relatively normal arches in their feet.
Most people tend to over pronate when they run. Meaning that when their heel hits the ground, their foot tends to roll inwards towards the big toe. This is a natural occurrence that alleviates some of the shock from the landing.
Those runners with high arches only have a very slight pronation when they land due to the support from their arches. Because of this, a neutral shoe which does not have much added support under the arches, or stability, is recommended.

A shoe with stability is recommended to runners who have somewhat low arches or flat feet. The mechanics of these runners usually involves a lot of over-pronation. Meaning that when the heels of these runners hits the ground, there is a large motion of rolling inwards that occurs that usually generally doesnt occur in runners with high arches. This can be the cause for many injuries, which can be discouraging because it's merely body mechanics... something you are born with.
Naturally, people with high arches have fewer injuries that are due to mechanics. For example: In the Army, I've heard stories of complaints from privates with flat feet who were constantly on their feet during the Korean and Vietnam War.

To get back to shoes, stability shoes have a dual-density midsole. Basically, to tell if a shoe is a stability shoe or if it is neutral you have to take a look at the middle of the shoe where the arch part of your foot would be if your foot was in the shoe. If the area is dark grey and looks like it is solidly filled in then it is a stability running shoe.
Heres a pic for an example:
Asics 2110

See the dark grey in the middle?

Now, here is a picture of a neutral running shoe. Asics Gel Cumulus

If you look at the arch location of the shoe, there is no dual density midsole. Just a small, what looks like plasticy material underneath the shoe. That's actually still a support for an arch and is a hard surface, but it isn't a dual density midsole


Well let me get to my background...
I have a low arch in my foot... So naturally I overpronate when I walk.. BUT somewhat less severely when I run, which is not very common among runners. Because of this, when I go to Marathon Sports and an Employee checks out how I walk they usually tell me I need a shoe with A LOT of stability. When they look at how I run, they might alter their opinion and say I need a shoe with a little less stability.

The problem is, a shoe with a lot of stability is not good for me because it has too much support for my foot, which can cause stress and injuries in other locations in my body.
I can't wear a neutral shoe while running because then there will be no support for my natural overpronation which will lead to natural injuries involving mechanics.

A shoe with moderate to almost no stability should be my ideal pick, however, those shoes such as the Brooks Radius, have not worked for me either. I still get pain in my shins when I start running a lot of mileage per week.
This was the injury that actually kept me injured for most of my freshman indoor season last year.

So, After doing research, and talking to an Orthopedist, I decided to try out orthodics with a neutral pair of running shoes. The neutral pair that I was recommended was the Brooks Glycerin 6.
pic:

I was recommended these shoes in particular because they have a TON of cushioning. A lot more cushioning then most other neutral shoes. The neutrality of the shoe would be canceled out by the orthodics which I was told would act as a layer of stability when I put them into my shoes. So it would slow down the process of overpronation that occurs when my foot hits the ground.

I was incredulous to that idea at first. I don't know how, but it's worked!!!!!!
I've been able to run 70-80 miles per week using this combination and I havent had pain in my shins! It's like I'm cheating my creator for giving me low arches.. but I'm happy that I've found a way around that and have been able to run a lot of miles.

Which brings me to my current dilemma.

The Brooks Glycerin 6 has been discontinued as of January 2009. The Glycerin 7 has been introduced.
My problem with the introduction of another model of the shoe is that shoe developers tend basically create a new shoe, a different shoe from the previous model. They alter the shoes in particular ways when they introduce the new model(I got this knowledge from working with people who have experience in R&D of these products).

The Glycerin 7 might be a completely different shoe. In which case my flawless running combo will be eliminated. Online sources say that the Glycerin 7 is still a neutral and well-cushioned shoe. I'm still a little hesitant to buy them... I'm inclined to order every pair of Glycerin 6 size 10.5 that I can find and store them somewhere so that I have a never ending supply of them!

I'm just nervous since the miles on my now out-of-style Glycerin 6's are coming close to 400 miles. When a shoe approaches 400 miles, I usually go and replace them. I'm naturally comfortable with this brand and style of shoe and I don't want to change it... I want to stick by the Paul Norton mantra of "Go with whatever works"... but I can't now that these shoes aren't being sold anymore.

So.. what to do?

Do I keep looking online for the Glycerin 6 whenever I need a new pair, and continue this cycle until All the Glycerin 6 size 10.5 shoes in the world have been depleted?

or do I...


Dun dun duh...

Try out the Glycerin 7? and risk running in a shoe that has the possibility of not keeping me injury-free like the Glycerin 6 had?

I know I'm over-exaggerating this dilemma as much as possible, but I seriously am apprehensive in trying out the new model. It could turn out to be a completely different shoe and I'm tempted to just find every last pair of Glycerin 6 and round them up into a storage house for my safe-keeping.

Gotta do what I gotta do.

The Distance Running and Marriage Phenomenon

I found this to be a good read,
Justin Kopunek from Flotrack.org wrote a funny blog post about how some of the elite distance runners have been getting married almost right after college.
I'm turning 20 in about half a year, and am in NO rush to get married (At least not like half of the University of Colorado Team), but this article has a lot of good points about the integration and relationship-building aspects that running may bring into our lives.

Article Link:
http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Bx_Runner/6074-marriage-and-distance-running

"One explanation I can surmise is that to become a distance runner competing at the highest level, along with talent, one needs commitment to the sport. As many of us runners have touted in job interviews and personal essays, commitment to running is reflective of our dedicative nature. I am suggesting that how elite distance runners treat their sport transcends every aspect of their lives, including personal relationships. At the highest level, distance running requires a full commitment of mind, body, and soul. The same could be said of marriage and child birth. To commit to a sport so wholly takes a special personality type, one that would bring that same level of allegiance into any relationship. If anything, runners are a loyal breed. Loyal to a sport, loyal to a shoe, and loyal to their mates. "

I guess we can't really blame Adam Goucher, A high percentage of the teenage running community is in love with Kara Goucher anyways!
But seriously, it's a good read.

Runnin a little tired

I haven't been feeling 100% the last 2 weeks. On some of my runs my legs have been feeling like logs, other runs my lungs have been struggling with the normal process of respiration.

I may have been starting to feel small effects of solid training as soon as the Brandeis meet when I ran 4:22 for the mile. I was happy with the race, but I began to feel a little more tired. For most of late December to Mid January I felt almost invincible; I ran solid workouts and my runs felt pretty easy. One thing that may have added to this tired phase is the fact that I started doubling in Mid January as well. I could have introduced that earlier into my season.

So the progress continues, I ran (what I think) is a sub par performance 2 weeks ago at Tufts when I ran 2:36 for the 1000m. I know that Ive been and am fit enough to take seconds off that time.

This past week I ran the mile at BU. I was pretty excited to get out and race at a fast banked track. The week before I had felt pretty dead on my runs, so I even had a day off to help freshen me up. I ran 4:25.69 for the mile.

I'm tempted to be disappointed with the time because it's slower than my PR and (since I'm someone who tends to habitually compare himself to others or others performances) I didn't get an immediate PR like a lot of people get from their first race at the BU venue.

I hate excuses, and I'm someone who immediately looks for reasons when something doesn't go the way I would've liked it to. In this case, the race actually did play somewhat to my disadvantage.
I was in the 8th heat of the mile, and all of the races before mine did not have a problem with someone taking the race out with a quick pace. Mine was the first one to go out slow,

We were running straight 33s and 34s for our 200 splits for most of the race. Went through the 800 in 2:12. This caused a bunch up at the front of the race. The whole race was pretty physical. I spent a lot of energy trying to maintain my position near the front. Everytime I would try to get into 2nd place, I would get shoved and/or elbowed. I returned the favor to a number of other races, if someone came on my outside I would stick my arm out and try to get him to move forward so that I wouldnt become boxed in.

I ended up getting 4th in my heat. It was an interesting race to say the least. I was looking for another gear with 200 to go, but I didnt seem to have the wheels that day.
It's a learning experience, John said that I probably should have not gotten in the mix of things until past halfway, I should've relaxed in the back and then made a move later on. This is pretty true, I made a ton of contact early on in the race.

Well, this week I've still been feeling somewhat tired. I only ran 10 miles for my long run on Sunday, ran up Comm ave again with Devon, Mike Stone and Some guys. Ran the 10 in about 69 minutes.

Picture of us running up Comm Ave this Sunday:

From Left to right:
Devon, Mike Stone, Udel, me, and our buddy Kiprotich from Kenya behind us in the background.
You know, just a casual run up heartbreak hill.



I actually have to take a moment to give props, kudos (whatever you want to call it) to Devon. This weekend he broke 4:20 for the first time in the mile at BU. He's been working really hard, and it's good to see the work pay off for him. He's incredibly motivated and meticulous about his training regime. He was injured most of last year and he's bounced back pretty well. 4:19 is a great mid season run.

Anyways, the Big meets are ahead of us.
This weekend I might be racing the mile at D3 Regionals at MIT. I really want to run this race, but it'll be a matter of how I feel this week. I want to be fresh and peaked for UAAs in early March, so whatever John and I work out will be good.

The plan is,
race the mile at D3s at MIT, mile at All New Englands at BU the next week, and probably mile at the UAA Conference Meet at the Armory in New York City.

I want the focus to be UAAs. The Armory is a sweet track, and the UAA Conference is really competitive, so it'd be really cool to race well and show the conference what we've got. I'm not putting down the possibility of NCAAs, but that would take a certain time, a big PR. Definitely not out of the realm of possibilities, but I want the focus to be on UAAs. It will be only my second time running at the conference meet, I have to make up for my blow up at Cross Country UAAs at Emory (haha!).

Well, I've had a good winter of training so far. We have a lot of talented and focused guys, so it'll be good to see what happens when we bring our sharp legs and focused attitudes to the big races.

Coming off a great month of training

January of 2009 has possibly been my best month of training that I've had my entire life. My lowest mileage week was around 60 miles and my highest week was at 71 miles. Not only that, but I felt pretty good for the entire monthly period. when I look at my flotrack running log, I see a lot more consistency in terms of feel and in workouts and running as well as a slight increase in running pace.

I put in some pretty excellent work during January. It's no surprise that this first week of February, I ran 62 miles and felt pretty sluggish. I've been working out well,
actually on Tuesday I ran a 6,4,2,2,4,6 ladder with Devon and Aaron Udel. The last set was run in 28, 59, and 1:35 which is good, the workouts have been getting faster.

At the same time, I've been feeling a little tired, but to no surprise. I ran the 1000m at the Tufts Invite today, and I was 11th in 2:36. I wasn't happy at the time nor with my race at first ( the race consisted of me struggling to hang onto the lead pack from the gun), but I was content with it later.
2:36 is actually a PR,
and it's also a really good indicator that I'm really really fit.
(Coach) John and I agree that I needed the race. With the bigger meets coming up, it's good to get an effort like this in a meet that doesn't matter all that much.

Coming off a mile PR two weeks back, I'm feeling pretty solid.
I've practically run a PR in all of my races this winter, with the exception of the 800 at bowdoin but i was only a second off. I'm in shape to run really well throughout the rest of the season.

There were a good amount of solid performances today at Tufts as well,
Matt Jennings got 3rd in the 1000m with a PR 2:32, Devon was 4th in 2:33.
Beth Pisarik won the mile in 5:10, with Kate Warick 3rd.
Chris Brown won the mile in 4:22, with Marc Boutin 5th in a PR 4:26.
as well as other solid performances that I can't remember off the top of my head.
The girls also ran a Distance Medley Relay last night in New York in 12:12.

The team is doing well, a few of the guys and girls are sick and some of us are coming off a few hard weeks, but this means that the hay is in the barn. We have a lot of good races to look forward to in the future.

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going

A Famous quote by Beverly Sills.

Definitely pertains to what I'm doing right now. I started doubling this week and it's been working out really well; Ive been feeling much better doing it than I did during the fall cross season.

Sunday, the day after the meet, we got up at 10AM and ran a long run on Comm. Ave. It was a tough run up the hills, we were running about 6:50 pace but it felt like a harder effort. I was pretty dead for the rest of my day. I made sure to do a little foam rolling in the suite before I went to bed.

I did my first double of the winter the following day. Mondays have been good days to get a double in since my first class starts at noon. I woke up, headed down to the gym, ran a quick 5 miles, stretched, showered, and headed up to Usdan to get a quick sub before class.
I then doubled back to run 8 miles at practice at 3:30pm with a bunch of guys. I felt a lot more loose on my second run. It was a good decision to start getting some doubles in. I'm trying to run around 70 miles a week and hold that for about a year. In the long term that will help me become a better distance runner.

There are no shortcuts to where I want to be now and in the future. I have to put in the work. To start looking at running times in the 4:10's for the mile I have to put in some smart and solid training. I have a few solid races under my belt at a few smaller meets, so it's time to get sharp and prepare myself for the bigger meets, Tufts, BU Valentines, D3 Northeast, All New Englands, UAA's at the Armory, and possibly D3 Nationals.

Tuesday, I felt really refreshed. Matt Jennings was right in telling me that the double would help me recover. Sunday night I felt like I could barely walk, and on Tuesday I had a ton of energy and my legs felt sharp. Doubling indeed, has been a good idea.

I ran about 54 miles total last week since it was a down week. Interestingly enough, I'm only 5 days into this week and I'm already past 54 miles for the week.

I doubled today, an interesting choice since I was scheduled to run a workout at practice.
Me, Matt Jennings, Devon, and Marc ran 7x400 and 2x200.
It was a good workout, we started off at 66 and made our way down to 61 for the 400s, and finished with 27 in the 200s. My legs definitely felt a little tired in the middle of the workout, but towards the end I felt like I could still do more. The recovery was 2 minutes.

Overall, I ran about 15 miles for the day, which adds a nice amount of miles for my week total. I'm not too concerned about hitting 70 for the week necessarily, I just want to get 2 doubles in a week and manage to feel okay and stay healthy.

A few members of the team are racing at Wheaton Invitational this Saturday, I will not be racing. Other then that We have a lot of good meets to look forward to.

I'm still pumped for Valentine's day. Not because I have anybody in particular that I want to be my valentine, but maybe something else that will grasp my attention, like a race at a fast track.
Can you say BANKED??


Lookin Ahead.

Ive been waiting a good amount of time to say this...

"Mile PR", there I said it!

4:22 this weekend, a 4 second PR.
Those who I am close with, and those who I talk to about my running know that I've been waiting a good while to say that. Ive had my share of struggles, injuries, and setbacks within the last two years trying to get back into my rhythm and good racing shape.
Well, I have a system where I can maintain my body effectively and produce good training which is pleasing.

Leading up to the race this weekend, I had a slightly down week.
The 800 last week left me feeling surprisingly good. I got a quick picture from the meet from a bowdoin website:

Pretty cool pic. I think it's the final turn, I ended up winning the race by barely catching Stein from Bowdoin and out leaning him at the line.

This week, I ran about 58 miles and I didn't do the major workout this week. Also, I took a day off on Tuesday which was needed since I hadnt taken one off in about a month.

On Thursday, I did a mini-workout. Ran 4x200 with Matt Jennings, Marc, and Chris.
We ran 27 seconds for each one. Felt pretty smooth, it was more of a workout to get the legs going. A workout that hits the right buttons and leaves you feeling sharp for the race.

On Saturday, I woke up with my roommates, ate, and we headed down to the gym at around 10:30Am. The Reggie Poyou Invitational (A memorial meet named after a Brandeis track and field athlete who drowned in Africa while studying abroad) was scheduled to start at noon.
Me, Matt, and Chris were scheduled to run the mile. We spent a lot of time warming up because we didn't really know what time our race would go off. Well, the race went off and Matt and I ended up battling two Amherst runners for most of the race, until 400m to go when Matt took the lead. I was in 4th at the time behind the two Amherst runners. We had been running split 33's, it didn't feel exceptionally fast but I hadn't really been feeling well from the start of the race.
As Matt made his move, the first amherst runner followed him and opened a short gap on the rest of us. With 200m to go, I passed the other Amherst runner in 3rd and started to make up a little ground on the two up front. It was a crazy finish. I ended up catching the Amherst runner in 2nd and then Outleaning Matt at the finish. We both ended up running 4:22.
I knew with 50 meters to go that I would catch the Amherst runner, but that final effort also propelled me 1st which was surprising.

Matt seemed like he was pretty happy that it was me who ended up next to him at the line, and not a runner from another school.
pic on the line:


It was a pretty good effort. I'm eager to get under 4:20, but it was a good opening mile of 2009. Plus, I'm under that 4:26 barrier that I seemed to have in my senior year of high school.

Me, Matt, Marc, and Mike (all those m's) doubled back after our events to run the 4x800. We ended up winning in 8:07 which was neat. I came out of the day with two wins, pretty good stuff. Matt and I felt pretty tired after our mile race, Marc and Mike even more so after their 1000m. Mike led off in about 2:04-2:05, then Marc went out in 27 but finished strong to run 2 flat, I ran 2:01, and Jennings with a decent lead anchored us with a 2:01 to win.

I probably ran one of my best doubles ever, 4:22 mile and 2:01 800 split.

Things are looking good. I'm looking forward to the BU meet on Valentine's Day to hopefully get another shot at the mile.
Sinead Evans (Coach John's wife) praised me for my race.
She said "Sam, at BU in a couple of weeks you’ll take about four seconds off that time. It’s a lovely fast track they have there! "
Now, I'm definitely looking forward to it.

To those who are not familiar with Sinead, she was an Olympic runner for Ireland. Her personal best in the 1500m is 4:04,(REALLY FAST!), her mile best is 4:22, and her 3k best is 8:58 ( AMAZING).
Things have been working out well, and I'm going to keep training smart and look forward to more good races and PRs to come.

A very quick Weekend

I raced the 800 on Bowdoin on Saturday. The night before, I had trouble going to sleep. I was too jittery as I lay in bed. I had too much energy and didn't get efficient sleep.
Well, come Saturday at sun-rise, I wasn't feeling too tired. We got on the bus, and I took a long nap on the 2 1/2 hour bus ride up to Maine. I ate the usual Honey bunches of Oates, and a bagel with peanut butter a few hours before I was scheduled to race and was ready.

Felt okay during the warm up, but overall I was a little tired and a tad bit nervous. I was just wondering what to expect out of myself, as usual. Chris and I got on the line with a small field of competitors from University of Southern Maine and Bowdoin. The gun went off, and we got off pretty slowly, allowing the others to take it out. John and I had discussed a race plan, in which I was to sit on the leading runner and kick hard the last 200 meters.
Well, I got out slow and tucked into 4th place during the first lap. The race got out pretty slowly, 60 for the first 400m. I moved up to second, and going into the last lap the lead runner, Brett Stein of Bowdoin (Coincidentally, A former Wayland and DCL runner) had a slight gap on me and the rest of the field. With about 100 meters to go, I had no made much progress on him, but Chris started to come to my outside to pass me.
I woke up a little, and started to turn over. It was a pretty exciting finish. Brett held strong until the line while I kicked strong, made up the ground, and outleaned him at the line.
Times: me - 1:58, b. Stein (bowdoin)- 1:58, Chris - 1:59

It was a pretty exciting win. Even though the race was slow, it was nice to see that I could outkick a strong 800 meter runner. What made the win more thrilling was the fact that this was the event and location of my first collegiate win, which happened last year when I won the 1000m at this meet as a frosh.

Overall, the effort was pretty good. It was a small meet, but there were many strong individual performances for a meet this early in the season. Just to name a few highlights: Marc outkicked a Bowdoin runner in the last 50 meters to win the 1000m in 2:38, Paul and Devon raced well in the mile to come 2nd and 3rd with respective times and personal records of 4:21 and 4:24. Dan won the 3000m in 8:55, with Zack close behind.

I personally think the Bowdoin track is as hard as cement. That's a bit of an exaggeration but it really isn't a fast track. It's flat and has a hard surface. This meet never produces the fastest times usually.

Well, to my surprise, I came off the meet feeling pretty good.
Yesterday I ran 12 miles on the indoor track since there was a good amount of snow coming down on us. 12 miles on a 200 meter track sounds pretty boring, however, I ran with a bunch of guys, and the run went by pretty quickly. We turned around every 10 minutes so that we would put equal amount of stress on the portion of our bodies that was produced while running on the turns. I ended up running about 6:30 pace with Ryan and Marc. Pretty neat stuff.

This week will be a down week. Ive had about 4-5 weeks of solid training and I put in a good deal of quality work. Im pleasantly surprised that I havent been feeling tired or that I havent felt a need for a day off like I used to in prior seasons.
This week, I'll take a day off, and run easy.
The Brandeis meet is this Saturday, and it will be my first mile of 2009. I'm more than anxious to get the race underway.
Next week, I might start doubling twice a week if I'm feeling up for it. I've been running about 62 miles per week and I think it will be good for the long term to increase it to 70.

We'll see how things go. I want to focus on staying healthy, running consistent paced runs, and training smartly.
Racing season is underway, it's going to be a fun time.

Taking down the Polar Bears

I've been really happy to settle into my routine at school. I've been going getting sleep, going to classes from 11am- 1pm, eating well, hanging out with my buddies, watching the Celtics get their stuff back. It's been great getting back.

On Tuesday I ran a solid workout. I warmed up with the team, then John told Me, Devon, and Chris that we'd be running 3x800,2x300, and 2x200. I felt pretty good during the 800s, actually we were running under 2:20 for them and it felt like I didn't exert much effort. Chris wasn't feeling 100%, he had come from the doctor's because he passed out at church a week or so ago and went to see if there was anything wrong, low blood pressure or anything. I'm not sure what they told him but it didn't sound like he had a serious problem or anything. Still, he wanted to play it safe.
I continued doing the workout with Devon, but during the 300s he said he wasn't feeling the best either so he decided to stop. I think they both ended up taking a day off the next day (Wednesday). I don't blame them, we've had a lot of quality training the past 3-4 weeks. The body can do only so much work. The element of recovery is crucial in running.
"Can't take the training more serious than Recovery"
- says Romania's Constantina Tomescu Dita (Olympic Women's Marathon Champion)

After the past few weeks I've surprisingly still felt on top of my game. During the Cross country season I would take a down week after 3 weeks of solid training usually, and I would feel like I needed it. Now, I feel pretty solid still even after a month of good work.
Well I finished the workout by myself, ran the two 300s in 44 seconds and the 200s in 27 and 26. I definitely felt pretty sharp.

At Bowdoin this weekend, I'm running the 800m. I'm actually pretty excited for it. I am in good shape, and I want to see what I can get out of it. This weekend is going to be kind of Low-Key. I haven't run the 800 in a long time, and my race plan isn't even to hammer it from the gun. It'll be a good meet to sit and kick for the win.
Last year I actually got my first collegiate win at this meet. In the 1000m.

Pic of Bowdoin track (It actually strangely resembles the Brandeis track in the picture):


It'll be a fun meet. Their track actually isn't really a fast track. Also, this meet generally doesn't produce the fastest times. It will be a good first meet to get back into the racing ambiance.

Yesterday I ran 8 miles, and today I actually ran four 200s. We've been doing this for a while. On the Thursdays before a meet, John will have us warm up 20 minutes and run a few 200s. I think it's good, just to get the legs sharp. I ran them mostly in 28, which I think is good. I didn't feel that sharp today, but John and I agree that it's okay, and I've been working hard. We also agree that I'm in the best shape I've been in for a while, so it's time to get racing. Gotta beat those Polar Bears.

I'll probably have a day off next week, and then look forward to our Home Meet. The Reggie Poyou Invitational. It will be my first mile race since getting back and I'm more than eager to race it. My 1200m time trial two weeks ago ( time 3:08) was about 62-63 pace for 3 400ms. I think I might be fit enough to go for 64s each 400m. Time will tell. My legs have been feeling ridiculously strong lately, so I'm excited.
First, Bowdoin. Go Deis!