Snow

Central Park Snowstorm

Last week I complained about the snow. "I get it, Universe," I said. "New York looks awesome under a foot of snow. But can we please get a break from these winter storms??"

But the Universe didn't listen. Instead, it dumped another load of snow over my favorite city.

I reluctantly--and slowly due to the snow--walked to the gym and got my morning run in on the treadmill. I cursed as I tredged my way through the snow to the subway for work. I almost cried as I nearly slipped walking across Columbia's College Walk after work. Then I talked myself into going outside for my shakeout run that evening.

But the gods work in mysterious ways. Because once I reached Central Park the hate left.

The park was peaceful, the snow was bright white, and the air was fresh. I watched my exhales float away from me and disappear. I enjoyed the crunching sound my shoes made with each step on the thin layer of snow covering the road. I actually loved the snow in the park. Like my younger self, I had the urge to ruin a spot of perfect, untouched snow; so I jumped on it. It was only a 30-minute run, but I wanted it to last longer. Still, I turned around and headed home.

Leaving the park at 110th and Central Park West, I had a renewed perception of the snow. Even the sight of the slush at the crosswalk a block later at 110th and Manhattan Ave. couldn't dampen my spirits.

Then it deceived me.

I jumped for a longer stride to avoid a pile of snow. My left foot landed on what I thought was sturdy ground, but the slush wasn't solid and my foot kept going down, down, down, right into a puddle that went past my ankle.

My shoe waterlogged, my happier spirit gone, I finished my run up Morningside Hill and cursed the snow once again. I hate New York.

Millrose Recap

Millrose Games Track.

I was supposed to run a 4:08 mile for one of America's best distance runners (Galen Rupp) to help him out with the first half of his 2-mile run on the tight turns and sharp banks of the Millrose Games track. Instead, I took the pretty good field of runners (Stephen Haas has been running well this winter) through a mile in around 4:18 and then stuck around because I was still in prize money position for an extra 600 meters or so before stepping off the track at Madison Square Garden.

All in all it wasn't a great run for me, but it was a payday as a rabbit job. Plus, it's always fun to run at Madison Square Garden and be a part of the history of the Millrose Games. However, looking at the half filled (or half empty) stands made me wish that Millrose Games could be an even greater meet.

The main problem with Millrose Games is that the ticket prices make you think you're going to a Knicks game. And here's the thing. Other than the Wanamaker Mile, you really aren't seeing the talent level in all the events that would suggest that (although the Knicks have sucked in recent years). They get a few good people in each event, but overall, there are probably 3-4 really good events at the Millrose Games. If they are going to be charging $70 for somewhat good seats to a track meet, it needs to be one hell of a track meet. Other than the Wanamaker Mile, Millrose isn't quite there yet.

That being said, I wish Millrose Games could fill up the Garden. There is a fun energy when you're at a meet in MSG. The place is filled with history, its loud, and you can't ask for a better place to star than New York. But in order to fill up the Garden, we need to get great athletes in every single event. New York City is a great place for a track meet, hopefully some athletes can see how great a meet Millrose can be and can make next year a great year for the meet.

Training has been slacking a little bit with all the racing (meaning mileage has been down), but it looks like I may be up in Boston next weekend for a fast mile and then we'll really get back to piling on the miles and putting in the work. We look at indoor season as the NBA's pre-season and we're using it to get ready for Outdoors. Will have a post midweek letting you know the rest of the Indoor season plans.

Effin' Snow

Complaining is for wusses. But excuse me while I wuss up for a little bit...

Whoever thought of this "I Heart NY" slogan didn't live in New York right now. This place sucks. Last year I had snOMG in DC and now it's just a Sh*t Storm of Snow (that's what I'm coining it since I feel that way about the pattern of snow every four days). I luckily missed the first big storm right after Christmas, but now this snow just keeps piling up. Plus, some of it melts, then it freezes, and the resulting slush is disgusting. I have been running on cement or treadmills for a while now, and I could really use some soft surfaces. Plus, these indoor tracks have some tight turns.

And that's that. No more complaining. You either run on the cement, or you don't. Plus, now that the NJ-NY Track Club has a logo (with t-shirts to boot!), life is good:

T-shirts available for $100

I am going to rabbit the Millrose 2-Mile on Friday night. The race goes off at 8:27pm and I'll be asked to lead the first mile of the race. There aren't many racers, so I'll be there to lead Galen Rupp through and hopefully he can keep the pace up. I am getting a little payday, add that into last week's and I'm starting to feel like a professional runner for once. Should be fun!

Snow sucks.

New Balance Recap

On yesterday's long run with Jeff, we were going by a lady who had one of those water belts on. I was thirsty, so I grabbed one off her, chugged it down, then threw it back at her. True story.

Well, not really, but I thought about it. Instead I kept on going with my run and felt tired from the weekend at the armory. And with that, a recap of the race:

First off, I forgot that the 1500 meter didn't start in the normal spot. So when everyone was over on the far turn, I was a little confused. I made my way over to the actual starting line and felt alright. It was mayhem at this meet; it is a high school meet that has a few elite events added in, and there were a TON of high schoolers on hand. Even so, it made for a pretty great atmosphere for a race...warming up was a different story.

But the race got out alright and since there were only 8 guys, my somewhat slow start wasn't a problem as I found myself in 3rd for the first half of the race...one of the people in front of me was a rabbit. We were through around 1:59.5 for the first 800 and I was starting to get in the racing zone, but after Sean Tully (our rabbit and my NJ-NY TC teammate) stepped off the track, the pace lagged quite a bit. 800-1100 was pretty slow, but then with 2 laps to go, Kyle Miller took off.

I was almost boxed in, but was able to answer his move and try to hang on. He was rolling from pretty far out so I gave him a few meters figuring I'd catch them back at some point, but I was wrong. He clearly was ready to go and had a really good race. By 200 he was about 15 meters in front, and I was clear from 3rd place by about 10 meters. I tried to, but couldn't, muster up much of a kick, and even though I closed the gap some, Miller got me by a little over a second and a half. I took 2nd with a 3:43.6. Not a bad opening 1500.

Overall, it was a good race. It's clearly not fun to get beat (and beat pretty good), but looking at big picture, last year's opening outdoor 1500 at Stanford was a 3:43.9, whereas this year I closed the 3:43.6 in a 57 last 400. I'm still missing some strength after missing the time with the stress fracture this fall, but pretty excited about what we're going to be doing coming up.

I'm rabbiting the Millrose 2-Mile this Friday, should be a fun time. Enjoy the footage courtesy of Flotrack of the race...

Liquid Gold

Footage of the race at Gtown last week...(I'm the guy in the headband.)

I walked out of my room holding a jug of Pure Michigan Maple Syrup, looked each of my roommates in the eyes and said: "If either of you even think about taking any of my Pure Michigan Maple Syrup, I'll **expletives deleted** and then I'll **more expletives deleted**!" Then I walked out of the room.

It was at that point that I knew I had a problem with sugar in liquid form.

It started with my dad being an entomologist. Growing up, there were bees everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. Colonies in the backs had swarms of buzzing drones. At yearly intervals there would be a huge silver spinning vat in the house that was used to extract the honey. I was lucky if I didn't step on a dead bee at some point with the stinger still in tact.

But oh that sweet nectar that my Dad got from those bees. While most kids pulled PB&J sandwiches out of their brown paper lunch bags, I ate PB&Honey. Some kids put brown sugar on their maple syrup, I doused my morning breakfast with silky smooth honey.

On top of my love of honey, my high school's mascot was a Fighting Bee. Everywhere I looked, there was a connection to honey. It was awesome.

Now, my love of liquid sugar goes beyond honey and extends to delicious maple syrup. For a while I was on a Safeway Brand butter flavored syrup craze, but I realized that may be detrimental to my health, so I've gone the good for you sugar route (if there is such a thing).

There is somewhat of a point to this nonsensical post about honey on my "running blog". I look at honey as a healing food. One coach (I won't mention names) I know used to tell his runners that whiskey was a healing power: "Constipated? Take a shot of whiskey...Diarrhea? Take a shot of whiskey." That's how I look at honey. So, if you're a runner and feeling sick, have a squirt of honey...if you're a runner and you're feeling awesome, slurp a little honey.

Bees? Beads!? Beeeees!!! Bzzzzzzz.

--
I'm running a 1500 this weekend at the Armory. Hopefully after last week's race I'll be ready to go for it. I think it's going to be a pretty good field, although I'm unsure who is in it. I go off at 1:40pm EST and I think ArmoryTrack.com usually has a video feed of the races going, so if you're not in NY you can check it out there. Haven't said it in a while, but....LET'S GO!!

Gtown Race Recap



The Georgetown Perp Indoor Track...

In all honesty, I was extremely nervous for this race. It was the first one of the year. I was officially coming off of injury. But mostly, I was back on what was once home turf (although this was a Georgetown "Home Meet" it was at Georgetown Prep in Bethesda, Md.), and I couldn't bomb my first race of the season with all my friends watching! Delilah noticed, claiming, "you never stopped eating!"

But, I pulled things together and got together a really nice opening weekend of racing. We'll look at it running diary style:

8am - wake up, 10 minute shakeout run in what we felt was a "balmy" DC day that registered around 35 degrees. I hate the Northeast.

9:45am - after an $18 (sub-par) buffet breakfast from the hotel, we all cabbed over to Gtown -- we stayed at the Key Bridge Marriot -- and got on the bus with the team.

10am - upon entry of the bus, I was showered with boos from the Georgetown team. I leave places right.

10:30am - we arrive at Georgetown Prep for Georgetown's "Home Meet". This facility is unreal. I wish I would have gone to high school here, but I don't think my parents would have been willing to shell out $48,000.

12:00pm - after some sitting around in the surprisingly chilly track facility, I realize that I don't have any caffiene for my 1:35 race. I call Liz Maloy, and she saves the day with a 5-Hour-Energy.

12:15pm - I almost throw up when I chug the 5-Hour. Then I get jacked up for my warm-up. Things are starting to shape up as the nerves are settling a little.

12:45pm - Alex (teammate on the NJ-NY Track Club) and I warm up. We do our walking drills, run 20 minutes, then do some stretching and get ready for the race with some strides. All said, it takes about 40 minutes...then you leave 5-10 minutes for things like bathroom breaks.

1:35pm - FINALLY, race time. I headband up, do a few mini-stretches. "Runner's to your mark!....BAM!"
--we're going. Theon (a stud for Gtown) takes the race out fairly quickly and I find myself in 4th place with Brian Hencke and Alex in front of me as well. John Maloy is right near me as well. We come through the first lap in around 26 (i'm probably 27). Not much jostling goes on the 2nd lap and I'm still on the rail in about 4th place. I hear 53 for the leaders and I am probably 54 mid for the 400. I'm focusing on keeping the pace up and Theon is still leading at a pretty good effort. Around the backstretch I can tell some things are about to happen and then on the turn, Alex takes off for the lead. I pass Brian on the inside of the turn then as we straighten out with 250 to go I move by Theon to answer Alex's move. We are through in 1:22-3 and I am up on Alex's heels staying focused and feeling good. He's charging pretty hard but then backs off some on the backstretch. I think about moving by him, but Gags told us to race to win that morning so I hold off for one push in the final 50. Alex struggles through the turn and I slingshot off it into the lead and pull away over the straight to win 1:51.55 to 1:52.05. It was a very good opening race.

1:40pm - we jog 20 minutes, then stretch.

2:30pm - we have to jog 20 minutes again to get ready for the 4x800. I didn't get to double all last year, and even though I wasn't looking forward to the pain of another 800, I know it's good long run.

3:30pm - after redoing all the walking drills, strides, all that pre-race stuff, we take off for the 4x8. Alex led off and handed it to me in the lead. I went out very hard...definitely too hard. Splits were 26, 53, 1:22, 1:52. Yikes, that is coming back slow. I was hurting afterwards as well. I liked going out hard for it though, Coach Henner always used to like us getting out hard early in the season because it makes it easier to do so later on, and I definitely by into that philosophy.

4:00pm - 15 more minutes of jogging and some hurdle drills. Day done: 1:51.55, 1:52.4split, on a flat track, I'll take it for a first race.

--
The meet at Georgetown was awesome. The Hoyas also invited our NJ-NY Track Club to an alumni event with hours d oeuvres and good times. It was a great event, and hopefully it turns into a yearly thing. It was great to go back to Gtown, and I'm hoping all the guys and girls can put together a great season.

Now, this week, I'm running a 1500 at the Armory for the New Balance Indoor games. Hopefully I'm ready to go for it, and hopefully I don't nervously eat the whole morning.

"800s"

Ben Zeeb, Andy Tolliver, and I before a workout at the Bath High School Track...Spring 2004

THE WORKOUT: 

"I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,

Straining upon the start." - Shakespeare, "Henry V"

The wind picked up on the backstretch, as it usually did. All bunched up and taking slow, mincing steps, we barely noticed it. I found myself surrounded. It was an odd feeling for a workout, especially in high school. The skinny legs of Chris Stoddard pumped directly in front of me. Brett Domeyer's choppy stride  was in front of me to the right. To my right was Phillip Liesenhoff (a German exchange student), to my left was the rail. Behind me Ben Zeeb and Andy Tolliver (our two best sprinters) ran effortlessly. We couldn't have been going faster than seven minute per-mile pace, but there was only 250-meters to go in the interval. Thirty-meters later and nothing had changed. Then, all at once:

"Cowards!!*" Phil yelled as his stride quickened, he moved to the outside, and took off at full speed blowing by Chris and Brett and into the lead going into the turn. Almost immediately Andy and Ben were past me, pursuing the fleeing Phil. Chris and Brett tried gamely to match the surge, but their distance oriented leg speed wasn't enough to do it.

Phil, Andy and Ben were telescoping away from us as we rounded the turn.

I had known it was coming. The workout was an 800 meter interval where the first 400 was purposely slow. Then, at any point on the next 400, someone could take off, but they had to sprint to the finish. So it could be a 400 meter sprint, or it could be only 120...either way, you were sprinting your balls off once someone went. We would usually do 3 or 4 of the intervals. It was fun, but it also taught you how to race. Because I was excelling at the high school level, we would sometimes throw the sprinters into the mix to make these "800s" more interesting for everybody.

I quickly moved by Chris and Brett (sadly in lane 2 of the track) as Phil had 10 yards on me; Ben and Andy only 5. Around the bend I reeled them in some, then moved into lane 3 as the track straightened out and the finish line came into view. Phil was 5 yards ahead now as Ben and Andy were only a step in front of me. We were all well into our final sprint now and barely managed to hold our form together as we all became even with only 20 meters left.

We composed a blanket finish of 4 as we leaned across the line with Brett and Chris only a few ticks of the clock back. Phil went to the infield, found a resting spot, and splayed himself on the grass. Ben, Andy, and I grasped our knees and sucked for air around us. Coach Roberson -- the mastermind behind the workout -- came up to us: "25 seconds for the last 200, nice work guys!" We all murmured less than understandable responses. My headache wouldn't subside for hours.

*We actually wouldn't yell "Cowards." The rule was that you had to yell a disgusting word as you took off...none of these words are appropriate for this blog.
--
Those were the days of high school running. Work your butt off and then see what happened on race day. It seems that I'm back in that mode of training, and I'm pretty happy about it. At Columbia and Georgetown I would probably have a "workout headache" once every two months. Lately, they have been coming once every two weeks, sometimes even more. When you start workouts with 2:59 1200s or 54 second 400s I guess that's what happens.

Getting excited for the indoor season to start. The New Jersey/New York TC will be in DC next weekend opening the season up. I'm pretty jacked for it. Hoping to race like we would in those Bath workouts...