That's The Midwest For Ya...

The above picture is my Dad’s camper (legitimately called a Scamp) that has gotten him some mileage throughout the years. My Dad knows how to bargain; he once traded $60 and two jars of salsa for an old Toyota truck…his salsa is really good. This picture of the camper was last year’s Xmas card for Walt.

I finally made it back to Michigan, and it was just in time for a Christmas filled with gusting winds and accompanying rainfall that wiped all the snow away. I think DC and Michigan decided to switch their normal weather patterns for the past week.

Not to worry, last night the snow returned and its back to me sliding my way through my runs. I like snow running though. I try not to even look at my watch and just go out for the mile markers that I know in Bath, of which there are plenty. I feel like more of a badass with snow running, maybe it’s because the air seems thinner due to the cold or the small steps I take so carefully so as not to fall (not to say I haven’t bitten the dust a few too many times on these roads.)

But, the show must go on, especially in Man Month, so I continue to go out in weather like the picture that follows (although this pic is from last year, the snow is almost at this height already):

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The running went pretty well last week. Was able to do a 4 mile tempo and then got in some 200s yesterday after getting a day off this week because of the holidays. Yesterday, thanks to the rain, I got up to the old high school track and pounded out 12×200 with a 200 jog. It was meant to be a get used to your pace type workout so they were each supposed to be in the 30 second range.

Thanks to the gusting winds, I was a little varied on the times hitting anything from 30point high to 28point low. Overall it was a good workout, and even in the sub-freezing temperatures I was able to get in a solid workout.

My racing schedule is still non-existent for the sole reason that we don’t know what races I will be able to get into. Hopefully I’m in good enough shape to get into some of the bigger US indoor meets. I will be sure to keep everyone updated.

And in great news, expect an announcement sometime after the new year about an update to runLBP…it’s exciting stuff.

Let’s Go!

snOMG

As far as running goes, I don’t like snow too much. However, that is only because yesterday when I needed to get in my long run it was snowing too much to actually be able to move without slipping every step so I spent an hour and twenty minutes on a treadmill. There are only so many songs you can listen to or shows you can watch before you inevitably get bored on there. And I dare you to listen to Pearl Jam’s “Leash” and not amp up the miles per hour on the treadmill.

In terms of snow and not running, it is pretty awesome. DC shuts down. It is quiet as can be and even though it’s impossible to get around, you just accept that you’re not going to be doing much. I did get stranded for two extra days in DC and wont be making it home until Tuesday. I can’t really complain though since I’ll be chilling in my apartment without any roommates to stop me from listening to the music I want as loudly as possible. There is a good chance the windows break when I rock out to “Cowgirl in the Sand” tomorrow on full volume.

I’m pretty excited for the holidays and heading home for a few days. It’s funny how I was meant to not be in Michigan for too long because of the weather. Look at where that got me.
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The running wont be backed off too much. Still some serious base work to be done before I start racing again in January. Hit my usual 70 miles this week with the main workout being an 8 mile pickup run. We started out at 6 minute pace and worked our way down to 5:03 for the last mile finishing up the entire 8 in 43:50…definitely quicker than I’ve ever run that many miles before.

Pretty soon here I’ll get back to some fun stuff on the track…I’m looking forward to getting out there and actually doing some racing. It’s almost go time…

Let’s Go!

MAN MONTH

December has been a great month for me. I don’t mind the cold (that’s what being a Michigan boy does for you), school is almost over (just a 20 page story about racing trains due this Wednesday), and it is MAN MONTH.

Man Month is something my brother, our buddy Kevin Verge, and I started about a year ago. At the risk of sounding like a misogynist pig, we do everything in these months as manly as possible. So that means I’m running hard, lifting hard, eating steak raw…you know, the basics.

Man Month is a way for us all to make sure that we are getting things done, and getting them done right. Say it was today and it was rainy and cold and I didn’t really feel like going for my run…Man Month makes you go for your runs.

This year, Alan Weeth joined in with Kevin, Will and I for Man Month, he has done nothing but act manly. The champion of his bowling league, he has continually sent out pictures of him eating skyline chili, there is even rumor that his arms no longer fit in his shirts, because his muscles have become too big.

The funny thing about Man Month for me is that it really got things rolling for me in its original installment. February of ‘09 was the original Man Month. However, I knew that I was running in a fast mile on January the 31st. I moved the month one day up, and for the first time in my life, a 3 was the first number listed in my mile time.
God, I love Man Month…
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And now each week I’ll put a little bit more in there about my actual running life. Don’t worry, the completely non-running related topics (although in my life pretty much everything makes its way back to running in some way or another) will continue on, but there will be some more training oriented issues talked about.

This week was a pretty relaxed one, with some more strength based stuff that I have been working on as the main attraction. Tuesday we did a 6xmile workout that ended up being a pretty tough one. It was one of the times where coach had originally told me I would be doing 5, but then at the last second decided that 6 was better.

There’s no real secret to “by-mile” workouts, usually just 60 seconds rest in between each one. So my group clicked off miles of 4:56, 4:56, 4:56, 4:55, then instead of the 60 seconds, we were only given 45, and we ran 4:52 then were given only 30 seconds and ran a 4:49 final mile. The rest is what kills you on that one.

Hit my usual 70 miles for the week with a nice long run with the team down around the monuments. Let’s Go!

Tempo Runs

There are a few times every year where I really question the whole “I want to be a runner thing.” It always seems to happen during a tempo run. I hate tempo runs.

For those unaware, a tempo run is, scientifically speaking, running at your aerobic threshold for a long time, most often in the 20-30 minute range. In layman’s terms, this means being on the edge of trying really hard, but not quite running all out for that period of time. In my terms, it means that it sucks.

Tempo runs are the kind of thing that feel really good for about 10 minutes, and then your body slowly starts to let you know that you’re not supposed to be doing this. Everything starts to shut down, the legs become heavy, the stomach begins to tie up in knots, the shoulders stiffen. But then you have another 10 to 20 minutes to go.

Paul O’Neil of Sports Illustrated once wrote:
“A man who sets out to become an artist at the mile is something like a man who sets out to discover the most graceful method of being hanged. No matter how logical his plans, he can not carry them out without physical suffering.” – “A Man Conquers Himself,” May 31, 1956

I feel this way about tempo runs.

As it turns out, the tempo being one of my weaknesses, Coach Henner has made sure that I have improved upon it. Last fall’s training log was filled with 8 mile tempos, he even through a 10-miler in there once so that I would learn to focus for 55 minutes.

And even as my tempos have improved, they haven’t become any more fun. This past Friday was a 6 miler with three freshman on the team. What was meant to be a progression run of miles at 6:00, 5:50, 5:40, 5:30, 5:20, and finally 5:10 turned into a nice little 6 miler that went 5:37, 5:40, 5:36, 5:31, 5:14, 5:04.

There will be plenty more tempos, and there will be plenty more of me complaining to myself that I have to do them. However, I understand what they mean, and I’ll continue to give them my best shot. The worst part will be the tempo tummy that follows.

A World Champ and Two All-Americans; What a Bunch of Losers

I spent Thanksgiving in New York this past weekend. My mom, step-dad and little sister made the drive out from Michigan to spend the holiday at my brother’s apartment on the Upper West Side. They had a place rented out for the weekend near Times Square, but I was lodged up near Columbia the whole weekend.

Thanks to two separate dinners, I had my fill of turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and green beans and gravy and apple pie and ice cream and cupcakes (only thanks to a trip to Magnolia for the caboose of that list).

The highlight of Thanksgiving day may have been the first (and most likely last) “Boylan, Fanta, DiCrescenzo,Boylan-Pett Turkey Football Game.”

In a backyard football game that took place in Riverside Park, My brother, Will, quarterbacked a team of himself, my mom, and my sister, Annie. My team included my step-dad, Charlie, and Delilah.

To give more meaning to the title of this entry, Charlie is a World Champion Taxidermist. No Joke. The guy is incredible at stuffing animals. If you ever kill a deer or a turkey and want it kept as a memento, look no further than http://www.fantataxidermy.com for all your needs. Then, add in the fact that Delilah and I were both All-Americans in the last track races of our NCAA careers, we had a pretty stacked team.

However, it doesn’t always work out the way that you think it would. In a defensive duel that yielded only 3 touchdowns, my leadership led to nothing but a letdown. On one play I even took out Delilah and seriously jeopardized both of our running careers. We ended up just fine, and I also made the catch.

In the end, with Delilah threatening to “throw the game,” my Mom made the game-winning catch as the sun set on the leaf covered field. 14-7, the World Champ and the All-Americans lose. What can ya do?

There was some running this weekend, but as in all Thanksgiving weekend runs, they weren’t the lightest. The mileage keeps on upping and the workouts will start to pick up soon enough, but for now its miles and miles.

Will Run For Food - Mike Krisch Edition

NCAA Cross Country Nationals were today. I never had any experience with this event because every one of my cross country seasons were gross under-achievements. I love XC, it is the only place where there is just one champion, and it is done in the most true way, through a race.

This edition of runLBP is a straight dedication to Andrew Bumbalough and Mike Krisch for winning All-American certificates with their 8th and 32nd place finishes at the NCAA meet. Since Krisch is my current roommate, he gets even more of a shout out.

What follows is the video I directed, produced, edited and starred in for a journalism class I took last spring. It features myself, and my two current roommates Mike Krisch and Alex Mason. The first couple of minutes are boring, but once the eating contest starts, things start getting pretty exciting. Enjoy…

Tom Petty: Running Down My Dreams

I am semi convinced that Tom Petty is trying to ruin my life. I am also worried that he has threatened the creators of Pandora and iTunes’ Genius with their lives. (For those not familiar, Pandora and Genius take a band that you like and try to create playlists that have similar musical qualities with bands you maybe haven’t listened to as much.)

Those two hunches have been contrived in light of recent Pandora and iTunes’ Genius ventures. It seems that everywhere I turn Tom Petty shows up in my playlists. I had enjoyed rocking a Refreshments/Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers radio station, however, Petty kept on showing up. Even after multiple thumbs down he was all over me. Then, I tried to use my iPod to go with some of my more familiar music. I decided that I wanted a playlist with songs similar to “Thunder Road” – four to five Petty songs show up, I think there are only four to five Petty songs on that iPod! He is legitimately everywhere. And I know Tom Petty has made some great songs, but I could use some breathing room.

Which brings me to the point of this supposed running blog: Running with music. I am neither a proponent or opponent. We received iPod shuffles at NCAAs last year, so I have donned it on a run or two, but I have found that I run a little too fast with it. My Mom listens to radio shows on her, but for me that would make the act of running even boringer (I understand that isn’t a word).

However, it’s time for me to write a news broadcast for my basic news writing class…talk about boringer. I leave you with a picture from my Columbia days for no reason other than the fact that Brian Horneck posted it on his facebook not too long ago. It is after HEPS 1500 my sophomore year, Horneck, Gabe Johnston and I went 2-5-6, signaling the beginning of a middle distance domination of HEPS for years to come.

Another Runion Weekend

Life has been good in DC lately. Getting into a routine of running and working and school, and I cannot complain. I realized that my season is only 2 months away now, so excitement has started creeping in. Indoors is going to be a very fun time for me with lots of racing and lots of training. There is no real plan out there yet for as to exactly what races I’ll be running, but that will come once we see how I’m running.

Then, in terms of the rest of this post, I have some actual homework to do, so you will once again be given a glimpse of The Runion. This particular article is the one that almost created stardom for the start-up website. It was after Tiger Woods won the US Open on a bum knee, and I wasn’t too impressed. So, I wrote an article with a few likenesses to the situation. The article was featured on SportsIllustrated.com’s “Hot Clicks” (a compilation of fun sports links) and the numbers of people checking the site sky rocketed.

I had promised that if I ever reached 10,000 visitors in one day that I would jump into the Hudson River. Well at 11am the amount of visitors to the site was up to 2,791. “Oh dear God!” I remember thinking.

However, it was at about this time that it was revealed Tiger Woods was going to be getting surgery on his injured knee and his accomplishment was actually pretty impressive…well as impressive a golfing accomplishment can be.
The link was removed, the visitors for the day stopped at 2,791 and The Runion returned to anonymity.
Here was the article:

RUNNER INJURES PINKY; STILL EAKS OUT A WIN

PEACHTREE, GA — Brushing aside any doubts concerning his injury, Lionel “Lion” Forest fought through unbearable pain to win the second major race of the Peachtree, Georgia Amateur Racing Series (or the PGA Racing Series), the Utley Supermarket Open 5k (or the US Open 5k).

Forest, the twenty five year old accountant, suffered a paper cut on his pinky only two days before the race. Attempting the Grand Slam of the PGA Racing Series, Forest had already won the Slam’s first leg in convincing fashion. However, having taken two days off to tend to his pinky, there was worry that he would falter on the challenging US Open course. That worry quickly turned to jubilation as Forest once again crossed the finish line in first, holding up two fingers as he broke the tape.

“I was ready for anything out there today,” said Forest, who blew away the field in the last 400 meters, winning by 4 seconds to keep his hope of winning the Grand Slam alive. “But let me tell you,” he continued, “that cut really stung once some of my sweat seeped through my band aid.”

Now, having won both the US Open and The Masterbators (which is put on by the sperm clinic in nearby Augusta), Forest’s attention will move to getting healthy for the British Bakery Open next week before the final leg of the Slam, the PGA Racing Series Championship in two weeks time. He will be applying Neosporin and Band-Aids on the hour every hour in preparation for his next run.

“We couldn’t be prouder of Lionel,” said PGA Racing Series Director Jonathan Newman. “He is what racing is all about in the PGA. There is a stigma that members of the PGA aren’t as tough as the rest of the sports world, but let me tell you, these guys go through a lot. I mean a paper-cut and this guy is out there competing? You show me another sport where someone is doing that!”

With comparisons to Tiger Woods’ performance at the Professional Golf Association’s United States Open, Lion Forest was not so quick to place himself in the same breath as the great golfer.

“Are you kidding me?” he replied when asked if he thought his performance was similar to that of Woods’, who had knee surgery eight weeks ago. “Tiger’s a pussy. I had a fucking paper cut! A PAPER CUT! You know how bad those sting?!”

Phitens and Heps and Peanut Butter Cups

It is rumored that Gilbert Arenas, the NBA star, tried out an altitude tent in order to help in get in shape for b-ball season. He decided that it was working too well, and that it felt like he was “cheating,” so he stopped using it. This is exactly how I feel about my new Phiten Titanium Necklace.

You may recognize the Phiten Necklace from Major League Baseball. A lot of guys use the thing that supposedly aids in recovery of muscles by increasing your circulation. I was pretty skeptical about the things, but then my roommates and I decided that we should start a new fad. And recovery necklaces were the route we chose.

Let’s just say that before I got my Phiten, my body ached at all times, and now I sometimes don’t even realize that I was just running for 20 miles at 6 minute pace. The thing just makes you feel great and recovered at all times.

And the fad has taken off. Will and Delilah up in New York have joined in. Kevin up in New Hampshire and Renee in D.C. have donned the necklaces. Hell, even Alan in Columbus has decided to join in on the Phiten Phun! And we all feel great. And yes, it is all in our heads.

And on top of that, my fastball has improved drastically since I started wearing Phiten.

If you do check my web journal often enough, then you saw that Columbia won HEPS this weekend in dramatic fashion. HEPS is an indescribable meet filled with emotion and heart. Somehow, men and women become heroes on this day only to return to their normal selves very soon after.

For an Ivy League runner HEPS has everything to do with it. It is a double sided sword, but the sharper side shines brightest. What I mean by that is this: Sometimes we put too much emotional energy into something like the Ivy League Championship that the rest of our season is compromised. However, I wouldn’t change a thing. HEPS is where you compete your balls off and nothing else matters. Times don’t matter, weather doesn’t matter, place is the only thing that counts.

HEPS is where every Ivy League school hates each other. HEPS is where every Ivy League school respects one another. HEPS is where Jimmy Wyner was DQ’d for celebrating. HEPS is where I became LBP as the chants roared through the Armory in 2007 when I won my first Heptagonal Crown.

In the end, I have supposedly moved on to bigger and better things, but HEPS will always have a special place in my heart.
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Just so I have a reason for the title of my entry…instead of dressing up for Halloween last night since all of my friends were getting back late from Big East XC, I spent the night eating REESE’S Peanut Butter cups…I have no complaints.

Hills

I hate hills. Running up them is awful. Running down them hurts. Frank Shorter may have said that hills were “speedwork in disguise,” but they aren’t nearly as fun as speedwork.

And I should preface this with the fact that my road mile this weekend was not nearly as fast a course as it should have been. And this is because from 100 to 900 meters, the course was an uphill through Lafayette, Calif.

Overall, I had a very solid race, and was able to take home 4th place and 250 dollars. Especially in comparison to 5th Avenue, I am very pleased with how it went. After doing a 6xMile workout on Tuesday I was able to chill a little bit before the race, but I definitely was not race sharp for something like this.

The weekend itself was a blast. With friends and other runners to hang out with all weekend, we had an amazing time. The race director, Priscilla Bailey, who is married to Tim Bailey (2nd place finisher in the race), proved to be a great host and I definitely plan on going back next year.

After the race sunday we made our way into San Francisco for the afternoon. I hate to say it, but San Fran is a pretty cool city. It is also hilly as hell, but it made for some good times.

And there is so much more news to put on here for this week, but most of the news will have to wait until next week.
1. A few of us have started wearing Phiten necklaces, these things are loaded with titanium and I feel recovered at all times.
2. I have barely passed my brother in terms of who has made more money as a professional runner, this is embarrassing to say the least.

So until next week, this is all I’ve got.

Skyline Time

You get yourself some hot dogs. You warm yourself up some chili. Find yourself some buns. Cut up a little onion. Grate a lot of Cheese. You put those things together, you got yourself a meal.

And I’m not talking any meal, I’m talking the best meal you could ever think of. I’m talking Skyline Chili and their cheese coneys. I love Skyline. It is probably my favorite food of all time. If you’ve read my previous entry about nicknames, REEESE’S is a little more acceptable of a nickname than CHILI DAWWGGGGG! But boy do I love ‘em.

Thankfully, I am in a town where chili is plentiful. Sadly, I am an idiot and have yet to have been to the most famous chili place in DC: Ben’s Chili Bowl. I have been to Hard Times Chili out in Clarendon, Va, but I need to make my way to Ben’s. The thing that I worry about, is that nothing can really live up to Skyline for me.

Skyline is a Boylan family delicacy, I remember young trips to Cincinnati to visit my Uncle Mike or Aunt Barb and the massive amounts of skyline we would consume. Even my cousin Connor, who doesn’t eat meat, found something on the menu when he would get the vegetarian chili on noodles.

One summer, my brother and I spent five days at my Uncle’s house. He gave us a lunch allowance for the week. Every day we went to Skyline. Every day we ordered the same thing: 4 Cheese coneys, onions, no mustard and a Dr. Pepper. Well, except for the last day, we ordered 5 dogs. Mmmmmm. Five days = 42 Cheese Coneys and 10 Dr. Peppers.

My love of Skyline has in no way dwindled. A birthday present of cans of skyline let me know that one friend was a legit one, and I have been reaping the benefits since. Sadly, I am down to my last can, and I am hoping to celebrate a good race by popping it open to enjoy a few chili dogs next week.

That’s right, even with all of this eating of chili dogs, I have been doing some running. Adding on the miles will make this road mile out in California interesting, but I am pumped for a chance to race after all of the slower (yet incredibly harder) base training I have been doing.

I’m heading out this Friday and then racing early Sunday morning. The field will most likely be pretty good, and I’ll just try to put forth a much better showing than my 5th Avenue performance. Wish me luck, because right now I am less of a professional runner than my brother, who made $300 at his marathon last weekend where he ran 2:28 (impressive indeed).

Racing Trains

“We might not be the best people” – Jack
“But we’re not the worst!” – Liz
“Graduate students are the worst.” – Jack and Liz
-30 Rock

Now not all graduate students are the worst. But we certainly aren’t the best either. Sometimes grad school can get a little tedious and boring. But other times it can be great.

One course has really stood out. “The Reported Memoir” has allowed me to write about my favorite subject: myself! But in all honesty, it has been fun to try to write a story that you think you know so much about, but end up finding that you really didn’t know a thing.

Back in my freshman year at Columbia, I raced the subway. It is this topic that acts as the driving force of my first official memoir. Here is an excerpt from the still unfinished story, but enjoy…
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Choo, Choo, Choo. Smack, Smack, Smack. The six-car train barrels forward carrying its’ passengers to their destinations.

Stomp, Stomp, Stomp. Gah, Gah, Gah. My feet and exhale breaths carry me along, unwavering.

At about 12 feet tall and 227 tons, the R62A rushes forward unrelenting, ready to smash anything in its path.

At about 5-foot-10 and 135 pounds, I delicately glide over the sidewalk, avoiding even dips in the sidewalk that could falter my stride.

Dreadfully, the green lights begin to turn against me as their hues turn a yellowish orange. The signal men who were smiling at me earlier saying, “Oh go ahead, you’re fine,” have turned into a red, blinking hand warning me, “Stop you idiot, you’re going to kill yourself.”

Idiot I may be, I am going to beat this subway. My cadence quickens, light feet, clear mind.

Nearing the intersection at 113th, I see a car raring to cross Broadway. A quick glance left; the light is green. A quick glance ahead; the driver is looking down. A quick decision; I’m going for it.

“Oh shit,” I realize as I cross in front of the car and see that the driver has just looked up. My right arm extends, my hand in the same position as the one in the walk signal that had warned me against continuing. I Heisman pose my way across the street, the driver slams his foot back onto the brake, and I continue on as a honk from behind rings in my ears.
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In running news, it was an alright week. Struggled through a mile repeat workout, which reminded me how much I hate mile repeat workouts. Now, off for another week of running and only 2 weeks away from the race out in the Bay Area. Gonna be fun.

miles and miles

I am going to be very tired for the next three months of my life. I am going to run a lot of miles. And then I am going to run a lot more.

A meeting with Coach Henner after 5th Avenue put things into perspective for me. He didn’t even mention the race in particular, but instead focused on things that I need to be doing now so that the same thing doesn’t happen this year that happened last. I need to be a stronger runner. And that means that 70 miles a week doesn’t quite do it any more. It means that my 3k and 5k workouts need to be stronger. It means that I need to Man Up. Which is exactly what I’ll try to do.
In good news, to break up the monotony of running cross country-esque workouts the rest of the fall, I will be flying out to the Bay Area at the end of October to run another road mile. Since I am now down to a 1-2 record on the street, hopefully I can even out the score.

And now, since this week wasn’t the most eventful for me, I’ll leave you with a treat. My senior year at Columbia I had the brilliant idea of making a fake running news website a la the “Onion” and I called it the “Runion.” Although the writing was spot on and the humor hilarious, the “Runion” has ceased to exist after a catastrophic event involving Tiger Woods (a story that is for another time). But now, in weeks that I am more of a boring person, I will post a “Runion” story or two to pass the time. This one was written by my good friend, Mike Smith, and, grotesque it may be, it makes me laugh the most of them all…
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Runner Achieves Mythical “Running Boner”, Has Brush With Teammates
ATHENS, OH – Will Tremble felt the first stir around mile five. He was on a long steady run with a tight pack of his teammates when it began. “At first I thought nothing of it,” Tremble told The RUNion in a phone conversation. “This type of thing just isn’t supposed to happen on a run.”

But what began as a stir quickly developed into a full erection. “At first I didn’t say anything…It all happened so fast. I was confused,” he continued. “I mean it went from limp to half-mast to full-out boner in something like a minute.” The silence then turned to recognition and then commotion.

Junior Heanly Adams described his first reaction in a personal interview at the University food court: “At first I didn’t believe it was real. [Pointing to salad bar] I thought he stuffed a pickle or a stick in his shorts…When I found out it was real, I suddenly felt as if ‘the pack was closing in’ as we normally say, but in a much different way.”

Most runners believe that getting an erection on a run is impossible. Nevertheless, stories circulate, rumors pulse, and contests, popularly called “the boner race”, are held nationwide to see who can achieve the mythical feat. It’s rumored, even, that one team held a pot of $200 dollars that would go to the first to produce a “persuasive boner.” When asked how he finally managed the feat, Tremble couldn’t give a definite answer. “I can’t say for sure. I wasn’t trying to get one or anything. I don’t even remember what I was thinking about at the time.”

But some of Tremble’s teamates are beginning to speculate on how he did it. Ray Haystacker, a redshirt freshman, suggested that Tremble flooded his thoughts with “sexy fantasies” to force himself into getting an erection. “Orgies even” Hackstacker goes on “…girls’ team, guys’ team, pin-ups, farm animals…candles and hot wax, lace pillows everywhere…That kid’s got a dirty mind.” Others on the team think it was “something else”, suggesting that Tremble got a lift from substances that are banned in the so-called “boner race.”

“Will wants so bad to be the first [to get a running boner],” Senior Kent Halloway wrote in an e-mail, adding, “He would do anything: raid his dad’s Viagra stash, chew hand-fulls of Spanish fly gulped down with ginseng tea…I even heard he was touring all the local truck stops looking for goatweed. He would just stuff his pockets with quarters, hop in his car, and come back with all sorts of brown bags that he would stash in his locker.” Epimedium, or “horny goatweed”, is a plant species that is believed to be a highly potent aphrodisiac, and carries with it legends of its mythical power to increase virility and sensitivity. Its use in the boner race has therefore been controversial at best.

The allegations of cheating have caused discord between Tremble and some members of the team. Runners from around the country have stepped in to take sides, flooding discussion boards online with heated debates on the issue. Meanwhile, Tremble denies the allegations, calling them “baseless and rooted in jealousy.”

“I would never take a lift,” he issued as a final plea, “I’m a simple, honest guy whose head just so happened to pop into famedom.”

Wake Up Call

Yikes. I was not ready to come through the first half-mile at 1:55 and be 2 seconds back of the main pack. But, you live and you learn.

I got my ass kicked this weekend in New York, and it sucked. As I talked to Coach Henner on the phone after the race, he put it pretty well into perspective: “Forget this one happened, and come back to DC and we’ll go back to work on Monday.”
And so that is what I will do. I found out that I have a long ways to go to get to the point that I want to be at, and there is no point not to start working towards it. The goal may be a little loftier than I once thought, but nothing would be fun if it wasn’t hard.

There was some redemption this weekend, and that was Koronets Pizza after the race. Koronets is the best pizzeria pizza that I have ever had. The slices are larger than my torso, and the taste is better than any filet mignon I’ve ever had. One slice of cheese and a Dr. Pepper please. (Although I forgot to consult the Doctor on this trip and just went with a slice).

I have recently dabbled in some pizza making artistry. My father makes the best pizza known to man. I have taken that recipe and tried to make it my own…with extremely promising results. Eventually a pizza shop in my name will be opening up, but that’s a whole different story…

And one last note: A huge congrats to team Columbia. A group of mostly ex-Columbia guys, sprinters alike, who dominated the Fred Brown relay this weekend. In the 65.4 mile relay race, they won by 28 minutes. Boo YAH.

20 Blocks To A Mile

At 1:05PM this coming Saturday, a gun will go off on 5th Avenue at East 80th Street and I will run like hell. Around 1:09PM on that very same day, I will be gasping for air at 5th and 60th, having just finished running a mile as fast as I could, at least that’s what I’m hoping.

I am extremely excited for the coming weekend and the 5th Avenue Mile, I’ll be lining up against some of the world’s best, and trying to stick my nose out there amongst them. It is going to be a blast.

As previously mentioned, I will be looking to add some street racing cred to my repertoire. I once beat the 1-Train from 110th to 116th running along Broadway, so I see no reason as to why I wouldn’t beat a few human beings this weekend.

Training for the race has gone pretty well leading up to the race, and nothing really special has been done in preparation. But Coach and I did go out and do some fast running on the bike path that runs next to the Potomac this past Tuesday. Him on a bike and me on my feet running from cone to cone with intervals of 400, 400, then 800. Then Coach pulled the classic 4×200 after the workout when I was clearly a pretty tired guy. The workout wasn’t great, but it was definitely good, and I’ll be ready to go for the race.

In my non-runner, real person life I had a nice weekend of class. Went to the Georgetown Track Banquet as an alum and then my roommates and I hosted a white party on our rooftop patio. Only white clothing allowed, and the event was a complete success.

Anyone in New York next weekend, I will hopefully see you out there. Until next time…

The Launch of "runLBP"...

Originally this was meant to be a little journal I kept of my overseas adventures in racing. However, only being a part-time student and working 15 hours a week at the local running store, I get a little bored. So, in turn, you all can have the privilege of checking in once or twice a week and seeing how I’m doing with the whole running thing (err on the once a week side).

I’m still down in DC, but have made the move away from Georgetown into Columbia Heights. Its supposedly the next Adams Morgan, but I just like the fact that its a little more urban than Georgetown and you see some things other than the rich, white upper-class that runs Gtown. I’m living with two fifth years on the team while I’m acting as a “Volunteer Assistant” under Coach Henner so he can continue to be my coach. I did, however, already let the freshman know that they can feel free to talk about anything around me, as the only ratting out I will be doing is if they actually do something stupid…but it will probably take a lot for me to consider something stupid.

We live right next to Rock Creek Park and the trail system there is amazing. The hills are also extremely stupid in the sense that they are steep and long. It’s a pain in the ass, but I guess it will help in the long run.

I’m running the 5th Avenue Mile on the streets of New York September 26th, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m doing a mini race simulation on Tuesday with some fast stuff on some streets.

I am, however, a little nervous. My record on the streets is 1-1. I begrudgingly will admit that my brother, Will, defeated me in a street race 3 years ago on the streets of New York (he decided flip flops were unnecessary even if chards of glass were covering the streets and he pulled away once he kicked his off…I was left in the dust with healthy feet, but a battered heart) .
I evened that record in a 2 on 2 relay race this past weekend up in Loon Lake, New York. My sophomore year roommate, Zach Richard, and I took on my brother and our friend and fellow Columbia Alum Kevin Verge, Esq. Kevin is the 200-meter indoor record holder at Columbia and it was very evident that I was going to need a lead from Zach. He provided just that as he left Will in the dust, giving me at least a 10 meter lead in what was only a 50 meter race. I glided smoothly home with a few taunts directed at Mr. Verge and brought my street race win percentage up to .500.

While a win may be asking a little much at 5th Ave, (A World Champ by the name of Bernard Lagat is competing) I’m hoping to race with the big boys and get after it on some streets that I still consider home. I’ll keep you posted, but if you’re going to be in New York the 26th of September, I hope to see you at 60th street and the finish line.

A Good Day

I find it funny how one little thing can make your day. I don’t think this is something that happens often, but when it does it is usually something very simple, something just a little out of the ordinary. That happened for me today. And Will, you’ll have to excuse me for laughing at your expense.

In Bath, being in the school’s band wasn’t the stereotypical nerd-fest. Instead, it was a conglomeration of pretty much everyone; nerds, jocks, emos, Goths. Me, I played the trombone. I wasn’t too bad either, once even had a solo to Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire…well, I wasn’t very good actually, my father laughed through the entire solo.

BUT, my brother Will was also in the band. And yesterday as I was walking through Ghent, I was reminded of this very fact and could not stop laughing. For Will played the clarinet, and as I walked and saw a band with a trumpeter, an accordionist, a drummer and a clarinetist, I could not help but laugh out loud. I then slyly shot a picture and went on with the rest of my day, happy as could be.

Just a few more days of sitting around and then one last race over here. I’ll be at Braschaat on Sunday racing one more 15. I’m hoping to be a little more aggressive than I was in Ghent, and if I rig, I rig. I’m looking forward to giving one last go at the 15 for this year.

I have a mini-workout tomorrow and then Saturday will be used for relaxing and packing up. I leave Monday out of Brussels, and not going to lie, looking forward to getting back in the states.

Stupid Cars

For some reason, I really have a problem with Smart Cars. I mean, I definitely like the idea of saving the environment and everything, but I hate those little things. I’m all for small cars and hybids, but those little things that seem less safe than scooter’s really make me mad. And I have never met anyone that does own one, but I imagine them to be some of the smuggest people in the world. Who knows?

Either way, for some reason my friend Alex Mason and I really want to tip one over. He has almost talked me into it on multiple occasions, but I realize that there would actually be some trouble with the law if we were to go through with our little plan. The thing is, is that it would be so, so easy to tip the thing. They are light as a feather and one can get it rocking back and forth pretty easily just by him or herself. However, it isn’t meant to be, and I think unless I were to buy my own smart car to flip, I’m going to be out of luck.

The reason I bring this up is due to the fact that I have an urge to flip almost every car in Belgium. These things are pretty much all smart cars. I’ve only seen one legitimate smart car (only a passenger and driver seat, virtually no trunk), but the rest are just asking to be tipped. I’d like to say that I will stay clear of these just as I have stateside, but I cannot guarantee that if Sunday’s race in Braschaat does not go well that I’m not going to flip the hell out of a smart car.
–
A pretty uneventful day once again in Belgium. Coffee and reading in the park were my main attractions. Going to do some picture taking tomorrow of my favorite spots in Ghent, and then just keep on getting ready for Sunday’s race, which will be my last of the season. I’m staying in Leuven Sunday night after the race to make it easier to catch my plane Monday, definitely looking forward to getting home, but going to take advantage of the last few days I have here.

50 Bones

There’s good news, and there’s bad news.

The good news is that I made 50 euros in the race today. First bit of prize money that I have ever made. It was pretty sweet.

Bad news, my watch broke. The band broke so I can’t wear it now. I am desperately in need of some sort of gear deal so that I don’t have to buy a new one.

So the race was better tonight, but still not great. I just didn’t feel exactly like myself. But ran 3:41 for the 8000th time all year (well actually 5th) and just feel like I need to dip under that barrier just to feel a little better about myself.

There was more of a group staying in Ghent tonight, so, drank some beers with them. I may or may not have had a few too many, but it was a really good time. Got to hang out with really fun people who are also very fast and just have a good time. Its funny to see that the faster people over here don’t really like to talk about running, they just like to have a good time. And this doesn’t mean that they aren’t serious about the running stuff, it just means that they like to go out and be happy rather than worry about how fast they ran or whether they are getting into the next race. It was Gent Fest, and it was just people moving from tent to tent and drinking beers.

I had a flotrack interview so check that out here…
http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/235261-2009-gentse-feesten-meeting-gentghent-flanders-cup/195004-liam-boylan-pett-1500-gent

Tomorrow, a little bit on the European car system.

HP, Dud City

Not going to lie, yesterday was one of the most uneventful since I have been here. The only event that took place was a viewing of the new Harry Potter movie, and let me tell you, it was highly disappointing. It was a boring movie and in the grand scheme of things nothing really happened. And yes, this was a set-up book for the final movie, but since they are splitting that book into two movies, I don’t have that high of hopes for now. But it just goes to show that I shouldn’t have read the books, because I wouldn’t know what I was missing and I probably would have enjoyed it.

The only real bit of action in the movie came when about halfway through the movie the lights in the theatre turned on. I was pretty upset, and only calmed myself down once the screen showed that they were having a 10 minute intermission. This then made me more upset because I was hydrating for the race and really had to go to the bathroom but it costs 0.35euros to go to the bathroom, so I had to hold it in for an extremely long time.

Get to race a 15 at Ghent tomorrow. The women go off at 8:20 Belgium time, and we are after that, but there supposedly could be 5 heats of the women, so probably around 8:45 is pretty likely for my race time. The Ghent track is in the middle of this forest and is tree lined, its going to be pretty fun to run a race on. There are a few other Americans in the field, including my travel mate for the trip, Matt Debole. It will be nice to have someone to warm up with and everything. Hopefully I can put together a better showing than Heusden.

A lot more athletes are showing up for this one, and Ghent is a little more than just a small crew, so that has been a little exciting, but overall nothing to report.

And sorry for the lack of anything exciting in this entry, just a boring day, I’ll think up something to make tomorrow’s a little more entertaining. Wish me luck for the race…

Running Shorts

I think that most runners go through phases with running shorts. When you first go out for middle school track, you look for ways to hide the fact that your thighs are as white as a ghost and force your parents to buy you spandex half tights to wear under your way too small running shorts. There is inevitably one kid who’s spandex don’t fit him because his legs are too skinny and he decides to go with the look of one baggier pair of spandex atop the other, more snuggly fitting pair. He thinks he has hidden his small legs, but instead he has drawn more attention to how stilt-like they are. Most kids disregard the school issued drawers and rock shorts of the basketball variety, which is probably the best call.

By the time you make it to high school, you have accepted the fact that running shorts are a little too small, and because you are sick of the football and baseball players calling you a homo for your shorts, you overcompensate. So you get the shortest shorts you can find, preferably of the American Flag variety and any other hideous design that running stores sell. A runner often embraces the shortness of his shorts at this time. You’re like the John Stockton of your high school track team. And because of this comes scenes like the one in “Juno” with the short shorts (side note: best part of that movie is when Michael Cerra is running through the hospital and you can hear the spikes of his shoes scratching against the tiled floor). I think in high school, the shorter the shorts, the more confidence you have in your running. If you’re fast, no ones going to make fun of the shorts you wear.

As you start to age and perhaps one day join a collegiate team, you find yourself surrounded by a lot of runners who are cocky and willing to wear shorts of the itsy bitsy, teeny weeny variety. And in seeing all of these short shorts, you realize what a fool you liked like in your dainty little things, and decide to go back to some normal running shorts, ones that won’t impede your ability to run quickly, but also not show too much. The perfect balance.

Sometimes, you can’t really help it though. The race day shorts issued by Columbia were not the longest things in the world, in fact they were extremely minute. It didn’t help that they rode up once you started running. The main problem with short shorts is that you look like a goof in them. Case in point: Jonah Rathbun. He was aware of this, and has been quoted as saying, in regards to Penn Relays ’07: “Greatest athletic accomplishment of my life, and every single picture of me has me in those doofy ass shorts.” (Pictured below, it also did not help that Jonah was making the face of a complete “doof,” I imagine him saying, “derrr, we’re number one, derrr,” and then snorting and pushing his glasses back up on his nose while the picture was being snapped.)

Eventually, your days of running extremely fast without care come to an end; whether it is age, injury, or inability to perform. It is at this point that you hang up the normal pair and move to a more basketball styled short. Not gangster style b-ball shorts, but the ones that end a little above the knees. Every once in a while you’ll pull the shorter ones over the legs and do a stride or two on the local track, but that’s just to relive the glory days. And you stay in the normal sized shorts for the rest of your running life. And as far as half tights go, I have no idea how those factor in, all I know is that I don’t like wearing them unless its really cold.
–
Had a nice day in Belgium. Talked to coach on the phone and I may be running another 8, but we’ll see. I would like to if its possible, but they are a little tougher to get into since lanes are at a premium, unlike the 15 where you can throw a bunch of people in there.

I did have to travel to the coffee shop twice since as I sat down the first time I realized that I had forgotten my computer. One hour later I was back at it drinking some coffee and writing up some emails trying to figure out my life. Oh, and had my first Belgian beer of the trip. I liked that it came in a fancy glass. Duvel was the brand, and it wasn’t too bad. I wish I was a beer connoisseur so I could explain why it was good, but to me, beer is either good or bad.

Only a week left in the trip, and excited for the races to come.

Racing and all that Jazz

It was April of 2007, and the Columbia Middle-Distance Crew was getting ready for their trip out to California for the warm weather and the prestigious Mt. Sac Relays. Senior Kent Collins was the captain of that team.

If you know Kent, then you will know that this conversation actually did take place. (My family had the pleasure of meeting Kent this year when the Final Four was in Detroit and he and my brother went. I will not be surprised if he is a topic of conversation at family dinners for years to come.)

It was the night before we left on an early morning flight, here is how the conversation went:

KENT: Hey man, make sure to bring two extra pairs of underwear.
ME: Haha, why?
KENT: dude, you always bring two extra pairs of underwear…one in case you poop your pants, and one in case your roommate poops his. (He said it as if I was stupid for even asking.)
ME: Well, what if we both, um, you know? And then one of us does it a second time?
KENT: Well you pray to God that both you and your roommate followed the rule…otherwise, two total pants poopings is all you get.

I have brought two extra pairs of underwear on every track trip since.

And sorry if bathroom humor is not your thing…I think Annie will at least laugh at this, and if not then I have some maturing to do for sure.

Even though I am fine in one department as far as dressing myself, I did not bring enough running t-shirts. I simply have started doubling and tripling up uses of shirts, and these are those dry-fit ones, so they don’t smell too great. Definitely going to do some laundry on Sunday after the race. I don’t own enough running shorts to get me through two and a half weeks. As far as normal clothes, I am set, but mainly because I have reverted to my childhood travel method of wearing the same thing for an entire trip. When I was younger, it was this godawful University of Michigan T-shirt that had the spray-painted graffiti style made popular in the early to mid 90s. The thing was real comfortable though. Now, I am constantly in my cargo sweatpant shorts…they are the most comfortable thing ever. I got them from Will via Delilah, and they are working wonders for me.

Finally get to race tomorrow! Really can’t wait. Felt normal during my strides today. I don’t like to feel too good on strides because then I start thinking that I timed it wrong, but I’ve learned that how you feel the day before has no influence on how you’ll race…hell it doesn’t even really matter how you feel 5 minutes before the race because once the gun goes off anything can happen.

Erison will be there as well after he had thought he was taking a break. We’ll probably go grab a beer after the meet. It should be a blast. Check Flotrack and they’ll have a video of the race up pretty soon after it happens. I’ll be the guy in the headband.

July 18, 2009
Well, the first one didn’t go quite to plan, but it wasn’t any reason to come running home either. I think I was just a little rusty. Having not raced since the first round of USAs back at the end of July, I think it was a lot to ask for a really great race today. And even though it wasn’t great, there were some positive notes. I got out pretty well, but then never really relaxed. I run best when running fast yet composed, and I was always a little tense out there, maybe nerves, maybe rustiness, who knows? If I can relax and run hard then I can probably get after the next one.

It was good to see Erison again, it was windy as hell out on that track today, and for him there is no one to hide behind. He took 4th in a slow time (not exactly sure what his was, but 46.3 should not be winning a meet the quality of Heusden).
I told him that I couldn’t imagine being over here for the 12 week stint he’s in the middle of. “It’s like prison,” he told me: “You can’t look at the end, kind of just have to deal with it.”

And I don’t think he really feels like its like prison, but the guy just likes to see his friends every once in a while…I know this because if he is happy to see me, then something has to be up.

Other than that, the track was really cool, a ton of people there. It had more of a minor league baseball game feel to it: a bunch of people sitting on lawn seats drinking beer and relaxing while enjoying sport.

The only problem with being around a bunch of runners is that you hear “what could have gone better” about 8000 times per day. I love running and all, but lets just accept that it’s a hard sport and there are A LOT of “what ifs.” Race and then move on, try to learn from it, but in the end, that’s all you can do.

And in other news, I don’t see why no one told me to read East of Eden before (and yes, I know there are probably more than a few people who did tell me to do so)…if it weren’t 600 pages long, I would be done with it by now. I am scared to death of Cathy, and I like how the scar on the forehead plays a role in the unique ones. It reminds me of Harry Potter, of which the 6th movie I have not seen yet. I was going to try to go here, but everything is too expensive, so I’m going to wait until I’m back stateside and dress up like Dumbledore and head to the theater.

“Of course it’s happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth does that mean it’s not real?”

REEEESES

Sometime around February or thereabouts, I decided that it was time for me to have a nickname. I had taken to calling my roommate, Dan Nunn, Bacon, for his unusual habit of cooking bacon at increasingly odd times. I would return home from class a little after ten to the scent of that hickory smoked pig fat approximately two to three times a week. Bacon also had several other nicknames including Captain Mischief (self explanatory) and PAJC (for winning the Pan American Junior Championship 5k in 2005). Now, “LBP” is my nickname in the track world, and don’t get me wrong, I love the nickname, but I think I was a little jealous that Bacon had so many.

So, in going with the theme of food that I had used for coming up with Dan’s nickname, I decided to call myself Reese’s, after the delicious peanut butter cup candy bar. It wasn’t just Reese’s either, it was pronounced as if it were in all caps and with much bravado to it: REEESES. Being it a self-proclaimed nickname, I worked hard at making it stick. Speaking of myself in the third person at the cafeteria dinner hour became commonplace, as did sending out mass text messages to teammates while I was bored in class that simply read: REEEEEEESES.

And in time, it started to stick. One teammate told me that whenever she got a text that didn’t say REEESES, she was very surprised (I also got the sense that when she did get a REEESES text, she wasn’t extremely happy). But people started referring to me as my desired nickname, although they started to say it more in a way that seems to say: “Classic Reeses, at it again” and lacks any oomph. Sometimes it was even: “Reeses, gosh him again??” However, I was okay with this oomph-less moniker. So, to this day, and much to the chagrin of many of my friends who don’t agree with self-proclaimed nicknames, I go by REEESES…except for in the track world, where I am still LBP.

And trust me, this will all make sense when you remember that there are no Reese’s in Belgium. The reason that I gave myself the nickname was because I jam on a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup every night before I race. So, as one could expect, I was extremely disappointed to find that I would be reese’s-less throughout the trip. However, I came up with a solution.
I will going as Snickers the rest of this trip. However, since this is a mainly track trip I won’t have to worry about it too much, but feel free to call me Snickers. That is, until I make it back to the US.

And to top off the digression, had a good day in Ghent today, just an easy run and then found a coffee shop that lets me use the Internet there for free! Gonna head back tomorrow and do the same. Pre-meet tomorrow (which means waking up, jogging 3 miles, then waiting til the afternoon for another 3 mile jog with some strides mixed in) and finally racing on Saturday, I cannot wait. I put up a link to the coverage in the Belgium Links column on the right side of the page.

...Check back tomorrow for info on my clothing situation.

No Racing Allowed

July 15, 2009 (part I)
Forgot to write one up last night, wish I could say I was trying to concentrate on the race, but when I concentrate too much I end up running poorly, I’m the kind of guy who needs to have fun racing…however, when I woke up this morning, I found out that I was not. There were some misread texts and as it turns out, I am in the HEUSDEN 800 this coming Saturday, which is both scarier and cooler. It is a much bigger meet, called the “KBC Night of Athletics” (I imagine it being said in a big boisterous voice), and it is going to be fast and fun. (Flotrack will also have someone there taping the races.)

I am still going to try to make it to Liege because my good friend from Columbia, Erison, is racing there. He’s a 400 runner and ran at Beijing last summer for is secondary country, Dominica. Ever since we roomed together at NCAAs his senior year, when he took 3rd in the 400-meters in 45.40 seconds, he has hated me. Spending a week with someone can do that…and I think I am only kind of joking when I say he hates me. But it should be good to see him, he has been based out of the UK for a good month now, so I think he needs to see some familiar faces.

But now I have to go do a workout since this race thing didn’t work. I have an 800 in 2’30”, 5×200 in 30, 29, 28, 27, 26 with 2’ rest and then a 400 in 75 to get the lactic acid out of my legs. Won’t be easy, but not something I haven’t done a tone of times. Finishing up my coffee then will be on my way.

July 15, 2009 (part II)
A day of not racing. So as stated earlier, I thought that I was going to race today. Lo and behold, I was not. But, as it turns out the Heusden race is probably the biggest meet in Belgium, so I am pretty syked for it.

I did go up to the meet today. Got to hang out with Delilah and watch Erison race. Erison ended up winning his race, a 300 in 32.8, and supposedly won some serious prize money along with it, although he wasn’t sure how much. He hadn’t seen anyone he really knew in about six weeks, so he was glad to see us.

Delilah and I were standing on the railing to the track watching a race, and some guy comes up behind us and says: “Yo, did you see that guy who won that 300? He was rooooolllling.” It was Erison.

He’s going to take a little bit of time off from racing now since he is running at the World Championships in Berlin…he also said that he will be overseas racing until September, pretty crazy.

It is kind of fun being at a meet with Delilah. There was a group of runner nerds (and runner nerds are one of my least favorite types of people…they constantly compare workouts, diets, but mainly talk about other runners as if they are gods and most likely post on message boards about what Alan Webb should be doing differently) and they were trying extremely hard to hang out with Delilah, but she is pretty content just chilling on her own, or in this case, with me. I felt as though I was pretty cool, although I am pretty sure that most people thought I was just her personal assistant.

The meets are also really cool. They have a huge bar/café where a lot of people sit and watch the races. The beer flows and a lot of people actually show up to watch us run. It’s a little different than your average invitational with family and friends showing up…although its not nearly as cool as Penn where for some reason 46,000 Jamaicans show up and scream their heads off. But the weather was perfect for running and now I’m looking forward to finally getting my feet wet on Saturday…boo yah.
In one sad piece of news, they do not have Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in Belgium (at least I have not found any so far)…more on that in my next post.

July 11-13

Here are my so called journal entries from the trip so far, ill throw in a few pics as well, enjoy getting caught up on my travels…800 tomorrow in Liege!!! I will also figure out pictures, but now i need to head back to my dorm… enjoy.

July 11, 2009
And So it begins.

I once wrote an Onion-esque story that I shared on the great, yet failed, concept I called the Runion. (I put the story at the end of this entry.) It was about a guy who got really excited about his trip, but got a little too excited a little too early and had some premature fun. I can take solace in knowing that this is not going to happen to me, because Day 1 of the trek was not the most encouraging.

This may also have been due to the fact that I have built up all of Europe as this beautiful and magical place reminiscent of the Harry Potter movies. Especially train stations. Well the Brussels Airport train station sucks. It falls completely short of even deserving a mention in the same sentence as King’s Crossing.

But made my way out Ghent, where I will be staying for a while, although I may meet up with Delilah for a bit (she is in Leuven). It was a long process to get my room and then I ended up walking around for a few hours looking for an internet café, however none are open on Saturdays or Sundays, so I’ll have to try my luck again tomorrow (and who knows when this will actually be up on my blog). But, I am now settled, and my dorm room is small, but it will do the trick. There is a kitchen we can use, but not a great one. Can’t really complain though, it’s a place to stay.

Dinner took place in front of my internet-less computer as I chomped down on a microwaved plate of lasagna with only a knife and spoon since I had forgotten a fork. Then, I took a sip of a can of Fanta Orange, one of the mainstays in this life that keeps me going, and it had a different taste. It was like normal Fanta, only a little lighter, a little watered down. They may have even thrown some grapefruit flavoring in there. It’s as if they combined squirt, orange soda, and a watered down flavor, to create a wondrous Belgium Fanta. So that’s the food report.

Now, its probably movie time and sleep. I’ll do a light workout tomorrow and then start getting ready for Wednesday’s race. I haven’t raced an 800 since IC4A’s so it should be pretty fun. Peace.

July 12, 2009
Checking out Ghent. Its not too bad of a city. We just happen to have been put in a dorm that is a little bit away from anything fun. It is a little eerie being around our place. No one is out, and even in catching the bus up to the downtown area it seemed like something was up with this city that apparently had no inhabitants. Even downtown wasn’t too bustling, but this made it a little more enjoyable.

I went into town with Matt Debole, a training partner who graduated from Georgetown the year before I got there, and Julie Culley, who was on the World Cross team for the US and took 4th at USAs in the 5k this year. We got some coffee and Matt got a Waffle. For me, it was perfect, just sitting and watching people.

The beer looks awesome, and I am definitely going to have a few on Thursday after Wednesday’s race. I’m looking forward to ordering a Stella and not getting called a girl, which happened a few days before I left. Excuse me for liking a beer that tastes good. Belgium is also known for its chocolate, and there is a chocolatier almost every other block. They all smell amazing.
Now, going to head to Delilah’s in Leuven tomorrow to hang out with her for a bit. It’s boring here, and I’m assuming its going to be boring there, but it will be better than nothing.

For the running fan: did a glorified stride workout up at the track…which is about a 20 minute jog from the place. 2x(100-200-300) first set at 16 second set at 14 per 100 meters. Did them all a little fast, but didn’t feel terrible for getting off the plane the day before…definitely didn’t feel great, and was clearly still a little off from all of the travel.

July 13, 2009
If I get bit by one more mosquito I may kill someone or something. I also may kill someone or something if I misplace a z for a w on a Dutch keyboard at the Internet café one more time. Other than those two things, however, life isn’t that bad. Traveling to Europe and racing is a lot different than doing so and not racing. It is a ton of sitting around and reading and doing crossword puzzles. It is quite discouraging when you are struggling with a book of New York Times Monday puzzles that are described as “fast and easy” and they are anything but.

But “The River Why” is a great book by David James Duncan, who wrote “The Brother’s K”. Its all about fly fishing and self discovery. It may not be for everyone as it took me about 15 track trips to finish, but the last half was very entertaining. Next up is “East of Eden” and then “Three Cups of Tea.” Then I will have nothing, so I’m hoping that I don’t get too into either of them.

I went to Leuven today to see Delilah. She is in an apartment complex with some tiny rooms, but she does have a mini-kitchen and bathroom in her place, so that makes it infinitely better than my place. She’s also closer to the downtown area of Leuven, which seemed pretty similar to Ghent, but a little more lively. I ended up getting a milkshake while Delilah got lunch, and then couldn’t turn down Gelato when she got some dessert. This should come as no surprise to my brother Will, who for some reason whenever he calls, finds me going to get ice cream. And yes, this is an almost daily activity that I take part in, but Will thinks that I am constantly eating ice cream. Well today, he would have been right. And hey, if I run a lot, I figure I get to eat ice cream a lot.

Get to do a pre-meet routine tomorrow so it should feel a little more like a normal day and I’m starting to get excited to actually race. I think doing so will make the trip move a little more.

And as for the mosquitoes, they are infesting every dorm room in ghent. I have a ton of bites. I am going to get a fan tomorrow and hope that placing it right on my head will solve the problem. It’s a disaster.

Setting Forth

I’m nervous, I’m excited. I’m laughing, now I’m peeing…I’m lizzing…I’m LIZZING!!![i]

Well, I’m not really lizzing, I am, however, nervous and excited. This is my first time traveling overseas solo and also my first trip as a “Professional Runner.” It feels a little less professional due to the fact that I am going into debt for this trip, but what the hell, I’m going to go ahead and call myself a professional runner.

So, I’m flying to Belgium, the land of beer, French fries, and waffles. But, since this is a running trip, I will be heeding my Uncle Gerry’s advice and only taking in Belgium’s finest offerings in moderate doses.

The trip is at least two and a half weeks, more if the running goes great. I’ll race 8s and 15s from Liege to Braschaat. I’ll stumble my way through the approximately seven words I know in French and Dutch (the languages of Belgium). And I will make sure to at least get in some touristy action while setting up a base at the University in Ghent.

Check in every other day or two and hopefully I’ll have up a new entry with pictures and the whole shebang describing my trip.
My racing schedule is listed below, and links to Flotrack coverage of the meets can be found in the links (they will definitely be at the Liege meet on the 15th).

Wish me luck, and feel free to post any comments or questions if you want to know anything at all.
Peace.
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[i] “Lizzing” is laughing and peeing, or whizzing, at the same time…see “30 Rock” for more.