POWERBAR

Jackpot! So in some awesome news, I am now a member of PowerBar Team Elite. What this essentially means is that I get to replenish after workouts with PowerBar. I’m pretty syked about it as it is my first official sponsor and who wouldn’t love some free energy bars and drinks? Plus, I’ll get to put a cool little logo on my jersey and rock some PowerBar gear around at meets. You can check out my PowerBar Profile.

Also, opened up the season this weekend out in Stanford. It was a good opening race, and definitely showed that I come June and July I can be hoping to do some serious damage out there. I ran 3:43.92 and ran a tough race. I thought I was going to win the thing with a hundred meters to go, but when I told my legs to go, they just didn’t do it. I think the training made it so I didn’t have any pop in my legs. But the good thing is that its only March and there is a loooong ways to go before I need to get really going and flying around the track.

Right now I can’t find a video of the race on Flotrack, but they did post a nice little interview of me. There is some talk of a personalized headband, so we’ll have to see what we can do about that the rest of the year.

(Also, in great news, Michigan State made the final four…I’m extremely jacked up about this one. Izzo is an amazing coach…if he coached runners I’d definitely call him up. Winners are winners.)
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Training was good last week. Ran a pretty tough 300-250 workout on Tuesday where we were alternating between 3k and 1500 pace, then didn’t really rest up before Friday’s race. With a few more weeks of training and a few rest days, I’m going to be ready to pop a big one….Let’s GO!

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

S.A.D. -- See Ya!

It was a gloomy few months in Washington, DC. However as winter turns to spring and gray clouds disappear I have noticed a hitch in my step that seemed to lay dormant all winter. I don’t want to say I actually had Seasonal Affective Disorder, but I was pissed off about all the snow coming down.

After a week full of 70 degree days and runs with shorts and tees, I really can’t complain. Today I even sat in a park and read outside for a good 30 minutes (my Mom the Librarian will be so proud). And things seem to be looking up in terms of weather regarding my outdoor schedule as well.

We did some mapping out of the season and I am going to be traveling across the country plenty to get a scent of the fresh California air. It will all start next weekend with a trip to Stanford where I will be running the 15…From there I will stay put Easter Weekend and run an 8 at William & Mary. Then I will travel back out to Cali for Mt. Sac and the PUMA mile and its $10,000 contract (who wouldn’t run in a race with a possibility of $10k?). Then I may run at Penn before heading back out to Stanford for a hopefully moving 15 at the beginning of May. It’s all pretty exciting and that’s just the first part of the season. We’re trying to get as ready as possible for USAs in Des Moines, so a racing we will go. I’m pretty pumped.

Stay tuned to Flotrack next week because I think they’re providing some coverage of the Stanford meet.
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Meanwhile, training has been going extremely well. I have been doing some of the best strength stuff of my life and even popped 4 miles in under 20 for one of the few times and did it feeling pretty easy. Then later that day ran a 53 quarter as part of the workout and felt pretty relaxed and quick on that. Things are starting to come together and I’m definitely jacked for what is possible this outdoor season. I hit a good 73 miles this week with a solid long run of 13 with some faster paced stuff in there and definitely am ready to get out there and race.

Also, I hope Michigan State somehow wins today so that I don’t develop M.B.T.S.A.D. (My Basketball Team Sucks Association Disorder)…LET’S GOO!!!!!

The Perks of Being a Distance Runner

The above picture was taken circa 1991, making me 6 years old and rocking my first 5k road race. It also makes my dad about 19 years younger and in his prime for the East Lansing Road Racing Circuit. Apparently I didn’t really run much of that race instead stopping to check out all the cool houses we were running by. Not a great thing to do in a cold Michigan winter…my dad remembers being freezing.

Sadly, this was just the beginning of me running races. I now have done hundreds to thousands more, and they have been both good and bad. And I may complain every once in a while about having to go for a morning run or pouring out 14 miles on a Sunday instead of sleeping in, but there are also some major perks to being a distance runner. Take the Travel Channel for instance.

I love food and cooking shows. If you haven’t noticed, my Will Run For Food idea was based on Man V. Food on the Travel Channel. The Food Network and Top Chef are also two of my favorites.

I was watching something along the lines of best places to pig out in America on Wednesday night when my roommate Krisch walked in. They were at a burger joint. One of the burgers had a nice slice of cream cheese placed on it. It looked divine. Krisch agreed. He agreed so much that he walked not only to 5 Guys (a great burger place in DC) but also the grocery store so that he could grab a slab of cream cheese. He then proceeded to imitate the tv burger as best he could and then made it disappear with ease.

“But what does this have to do with being a runner?” You may ask.

Well it has everything to do with being a runner. Krisch runs at least 80 miles a week, and the boy was craving a burger with cream cheese that night. Yeah he probably added 1500 extra calories into his diet that day, but a runner gets to binge every once in a while. In fact, while he was walking to the door I polished off 16 Chewy Chips Ahoy Cookies…and they were delicious. So if you ever hear me complaining about something to do with running, tell me to go eat a burger and I’ll remember that I can. I probably will eat a REESES instead (yeah, the nickname is about to come back).
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Training went really well last week. I put in 71 miles with some good workouts that were a little on the longer side (1k,2k,3k,1600??) and a 14 mile long run with some tempo stuff worked in there. We’re figuring out my outdoor schedule but it looks like I’m going to be making some trips out to Cali for some fast racing. I can’t wait. As always…LET’S GO!

Pay It Back

My perusing of Let’sRun.com’s “World Famous Message Board” depends on how well I have run. Yes, as vein as that is, it is true. I check the message boards if I’ve run well so that I can see what people are saying about me. If I’ve run poorly, I stay the hell away from it. It is not a confident booster to read that you don’t have what it takes. But I’m not solely self-centered, I actually check the message board if a teammate or friend has done well too.

So when Kyle Merber broke 4 last night in a race I rabbitted, I made sure to check out Let’sRun. While he was receiving his due praises, there were also some notes that mentioned breaking 4 doesn’t mean anything anymore. That too many Americans are doing it. That it has become too easy.

I beg to differ.

While the University of Washington may be excused, where sub-4 miles seem to come a dime a dozen, the mystique is still there. The problem with Washington is that no one races. Everyone sets one another up in a line and then runs accordingly to a really fast time. And don’t get me wrong, the fact that people run that fast is just amazing, I am jealous that I haven’t run a 3:57. But then watch Kyle Merber’s race from Friday night and tell me that it isn’t a little different running 3:58 for the win than running 3:59 to take 8th place in your race. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pitqexSNLcQ)

What happened at the Armory on Friday night was a sight to see. Kyle was able to accomplish a goal that he most likely set when he was in 6th grade when he first laced up his running shoes, and he was able to do it in front of and with people that mean the world to him. If he had run 3:58 at UW he would have been able to hug Coach Wood at the finish line and that would have been it. Instead, he was able to share it with his entire team.

So congrats Kyle, and congrats to anyone who ever breaks 4. A Syracuse coach came up to me after I rabbitted and thanked me. I asked him what Brad Miller ran. “4-flat,” he replied. I apologized. He said I didn’t need to, I did my job. I went on my way. But I hadn’t apologized because of my job, I apologized because I know what it feels like to break 4, and I wish that the Syracuse kid who I have talked to maybe twice in my life could have done the same.
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There are more stories from last night, but they are ones that may be kept secret for a while, ones to be told later when they make more sense. My training is going well. I am pretty excited to see what can happen this outdoor season. I have begun my training block and am discussing what my outdoor season will look like with coach. I’ll post up what I know as soon as I do. But I’m going to hit 73 miles this week and got in a nice tempo run of 7 miles on Tuesday before this pacing job last night. It’s going to be fun come April, May, June and July.

Let’s Go!!

Ps – check out two added LBPjams…BOO YAHHH.