Sugar

Mucho.

We had hoped that I was going to get into the Boston Indoor Games and the stacked mile field this weekend. Up until last night we hadn't been told no yet. Then this morning they came out with the start list without my name. It was disappointing. Gags picked us up at the armory this morning, said it sucked, and we drove on. I was in the back, pretty upset that I wasn't racing. "You depressed?" Gags asked. "Yeah, kinda, I wanted to race," I said. "Well tough sugar" (Gags' word he tries to use instead of the four letter one that begins with S). "You didn't get in, we move on."

Right he was. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, it was time to go to work. Rob (Novak) and I powered our way through an awesome extended speed workout and even popped some 66 second 500s in there.

Yeah, it would have been awesome to be in the race with Webb, Willis, Manzano, but nothing we can do about it now. So what's going to happen now is I'm going to work my ass off for the next month and then I'll get to race at Columbia's Last Chance Meet the first weekend of March. Hoping to do something special in that race to get me excited for the outdoor season.

In the meantine, and to avoid the depression of not running the race this weekend, I'll be living by the Ron Swanson (of "Parks and Recreation" one of my best tv shows of 2010) Pyramid of Greatness (see above pic) and avoiding the Yin-Yang of Failure:

Nada.

SWULY

Cooling down at Olympic Stadium...

There are some things you hope live on when you leave a place. This being a running related web-journal, I always hope to leave a team better off than when I got there. However, this being an other-side-of-running-related-web-journal, I also hope to leave a team better off with awesome non-running characteristics as well.

I think at Columbia I did a pretty good job. When my brother left Columbia in ’05, he claimed that he wouldn’t have been able to make the team with the times he ran in high school. I had some stud times in high school, but I felt pretty similar when I left the campus. Now all my school records are gone, so my legacy has been left to remain in other ways (all I have running wise on the current team is my Penn Relays Title – hopefully they can get that on me too). Things like eating contests – Koronets anyone, bird rating scales, those are the thigns that remain. And now, the Columbia team is even cooler than when I left. They have names for each month with a way to live each one. While I often take part in a self-proclaimed Man Month, these kids do it every month. Currently we are in Swuly.

Swuly is all about getting jacked muscle wise. A lot of core is supposed to take place and a lot of picking up heavy things just to prove you can. While it isn’t ideal for me to be doing a ton of lifting at the tail end of the season, I salute the month, and have been doing some push-up wars by myself after my runs just to keep tone. Plus, I’m going to be heading to the beach in Michigan only a week from now so need to get my beach muscles ready.

Had a nice workout on the track yesterday…2x(4x300) at 45-43-41-39 with 90” rest and 9min rest between sets. It wasn’t easy, especially in some wind, but felt good to run 39 even though it was hard. Will be doing mini-workouts every other day leading up to the race in Dublin on the 21st.

Going to learn about Vincent Van Gough now. Let’s Go!

A-Train: my little sister's nickname.

In All Honesty

First of all, some housekeeping information. Due to the lack of ability for me to get a comment box using iWeb as my program for creating runLBP.com, I will also be using a blogging service to post my articles. This way it will be easier to navigate the entries and check out my posts. Plus, you’ll be able to post comments, and if you’re a google user, it will be easy to subscribe or “follow” my blog. So now you can head to http://runLBP.blogspot.com, or click on the link at the top of each page that says, “Head to Blog!” (The articles will all still be on runLBP.com, so just head to the archive link at the bottom of the homepage to find it.) But back to some regular programming…

Apparently, I say the words, “in all honesty,” all the time. I hadn’t ever thought about it, but a freshman that I was spending too much time with called me out on it. And in all honesty, he was right (see, I did it right there! I can’t control myself). The saying really isn’t a problem, but it does imply that I lie enough to make a point of letting people know when I’m telling the truth. And once I started looking into the way I speak, and stopping myself every time I started saying it, I thought about the etiquette in telling someone something like that. A freshman told me after about a year of hanging out with me and just then had the nerve to say something. Oh I’m upset with him because now I stress about the way I talk, but he felt comfortable telling me, so you gotta give him credit for that.

Running etiquette is a funny thing. There are a few unspoken rules when you’re running with someone. You don’t one step when you’re running with someone (one-stepping being the act of running the same pace as someone, but one step in front of them), you go silent when the other person clearly doesn’t feel like talking, and overall, you try to go with the flow when running with someone. Sure, there are exceptions to these rules, you may be the one who doesn’t feel like talking so your running buddy better get the drift.

This week, I faced a running etiquette snafu while out in Rock Creek Park. I was running along minding my own business and on the way back of an out and back 55 minute run. I was charging up the last little stretch of a long hill and noticed a gentlemen to my right who was walking. I waved and nodded at him and continued on. But he started running and latched right onto me. Not a word crept out of his mouth, just footsteps crunching on the dirt trail behind me. I was upset. Had he asked if he could jog with me for a few minutes, I would have been upset, but I would have obliged. But without a word he was sitting on me like I do to someone I am trying to beat in a mile.

For a brief moment I thought about dropping the hammer, but I was tired from my workout the day before. Finally after descending the hill I had just run up and heading towards home I turned around mid-stride:
“Are you kidding me right now?” I said to him.
“I was bored running by myself,” he responded.
“You don’t just do this,” I shot back.
“No one’s ever had a problem with it be—” I cut him off.
“Well you’re pissing me off,” I snapped back and jogged to the right as he stopped.

Yeah, I’m not usually a mean guy while out running, but when you mess with the running etiquette, you might hear some words from me. So if you want to run with me, just ask…
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Raced in Indianapolis this weekend. Hearing the timer call out 23, 24 as I passed the 200 mark, I thought I might be in trouble. Coming through in 51low, I really knew. Yet for some reason I tried to make a pass during 4-600, and it ended up biting me in the ass. I still ran 1:48.97 while rigging home. And while I think that I can run in the 1:46’s in the right situation, this will be a big help come USAs. Coach Henner always likes it when we rig, because, he says, the next time we go out that fast we wont.

Also, the meet in Indianapolis sucked. Due to some serious thunderstorms, I didn’t get to race until midnight. Meanwhile, I traveled out there with some Gtown girls (the picture for this article) and stayed with my brother and the Columbia folk. They were all running the 1500 and didn’t get to race until 1:30 am. It was awful. But they all ran pretty well, and I was able to see Jeff Moriarty break my school record in the 1500 at Columbia. He ran a tough race, leading from 1k out and dropped a 3:42.51 for 3rd place, eclipsing my mark of 3:42.91. So congrats to him, even though he didn’t even know my website existed and the wind in Indy wasn’t strong enough at all.

Only two weeks until USAs. I can’t tell you how excited I am getting. Des Moines here we come! Let’s Go!

Freshmen

Most of my training partners were gone this week. They were off in Greensboro, NC trying to qualify for the NCAA Championships (a lot of them did, congrats to all the Columbia and Gtown kids who are flying out to Eugene in a week for NCs!), so I was left with but a few kids to run with.

They happened to be freshmen. The whole week I was running along with Andrew Springer and Bobby Peavey. I am five years older than these kids, so one would think that my maturity level may not necessarily mesh with theirs…but it was an AWESOME week.

It reminded me of my freshman year. My classmates and I were idiots. We were always scheming and planning something. Once, we planned a dinner date for the entire freshman class. It was going to be held at the famous (or more infamous) Columbia Cottage, a Chinese food place where free wine was served with dinner. We told everyone that they must dress nicely. Here is a quote from the invitation we sent out to the class of ’08: “A night of class, sophistication, and revelry. This is a formal affair in which you will dress appropriately and act in a proper and fair manner.” We went on to tell the girls that they would be paying for dinner since we took care of the wine tab beforehand. Somehow, people showed up even though as freshmen boys, we were clowns.

But Peavey and Springer aren’t really as big of idiots as I was, at least I don’t think so. Our runs were spent discussing video games (namely tetris, which apparently Springer is very good at). And in the process, Springer and Peavey tried beating me in some workouts.

Tuesday of this week was not an easy day for me. It was hot and humid, and I was doing a 5k workout; my least favorite type of workout. We were running 500, 1k, 500, 2k, 500, 1k, 500 all at 67.5 pace. Two minutes were allotted for resting between the intervals, which seems like a lot until you have just run a 2k in 5:37.

So we get through the 2k in 5:37, and Springer is looking good. Peavey’s foot is kind of bothering him, so he stops the workout. It’s just Springer and I (he’s legit, ran 4:02 for a full mile as a high schooler last year), and I do not run the 500 too well. I hit the pace, but struggle doing it.

Coach to me: “Can you finish this up, Liam?” Me to coach: “I don’t know.” And then I walk away from him to the start line for the 1k. I was straight hurting. Arms locking up, back arching, lactic acid filling my legs. Springer took us through the first 400: 67.1. I was hurting like hell, and definitely questioned dropping away from him. Then all of a sudden, I wasn’t anymore. I was just going to stay on him and finish this workout. We came through in 2:14 and finished up in 2:47. Then I led the last 500 and we ran 1:18 (62 through the quarter). I was done. But I had finished.

Two weeks ago I would have dropped out of the workout, but sometimes good things happen even when you feel terrible. The rest of the week went well, and now I’m getting stronger and stronger waiting for USAs.

My schedule is shaping up: I am going to be running an 800 at Indianapolis on the 12th of June and then gearing up for USAs after that (sorry to Ryan Pett, I definitely thought about the Tennessee Distance Classic, but its just not going to work out, thanks for the suggestion!). As always: Let’s Go!!

Ps – if you’re looking to read even more Liam Boylan-Pett, check out my latest PowerBar blog-post.

Degrees

So this is going to be a short post. My final project in my Master’s program is due May 3, so I have to make sure it is perfect. My project is a lot about running, though, so you all will get a little treat to it…mainly because I had no idea what to write about this week, so I’m just going to cut and paste something in.

I wasn’t extremely pleased with my race at Stanford this week, but there was a lot to learn from it. Namely, that I need to be able to handle being tired and head into a race still with my head on straight. I am racing May 13th in Minneapolis for the USA Road Mile Championship and then May 22nd at Occidental College for a hopefully fast 1500… That’s all the updating for now. Enjoy the opening to my Capstone Project (thesis type project for journalism students at Gtown)…

Traveling Stoll Road in Bath, Michigan, the distance between Upton and Center Roads is one mile. Starting at Upton and going east to west, the first three hundred yards is flat before a steep hill leads to a mailbox marked 7804 that signals the first quarter mile. A field opens up to the south while tall pine and walnut trees hug the north side of the street as the dirt road flattens out for another two hundred meters. Long blades of crabgrass droop over the shoulder of the road as the fuzzy ends of the yellow foxtail weed find themselves caked in brown dust. A slight downhill begins as three ranch style houses appear behind the giant Oak Trees lining their front yards. Power lines carry long black ropes down the hill and continue onward towards Center. At the halfway point, one smaller electricity post stands alone, away from the larger ones lining the entire street. One measly, black cord extends from the post. It makes its way to another lonely pole, drooping in the middle to form a sad smile. Below the lowpoint of the smile is a creek that cuts under Stoll perpendicularly. Extending from Potter Lake to the southwest, largemouth bass sometimes follow the creek outward. A young fisherman sits atop the steel cylinder tunnel that runs below the road with his legs dangling back and forth above the clear water. If he hears anything other than the buzz of horseflies and gnats, it is the faint crunches of gravel. Quick, rhythmic steps tread over the dirt road and the crunch becomes more and more audible. The fisherman turns around to see a runner approaching him. A sun worn mop of frizzled, curly hair bounces on top of his head with each step. Sweat beads flow from his hairline down his hollow cheeks and fall from his chin down to his chest. Sweat soaked shorts swish with each step as droplets splatter in dark brown splotches on the road behind him.

“One fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine,” The voice inside my head counts off as I pass the electrical post to my right that marks a half-mile to go. “They’re on pace now, just over halfway there.”

I wave my arm at the fisherman and only slightly disrupt my running motion before switching my concentration to the approaching hill. Up I run past the farmland to my left. To my right is the Jerome’s, an old farmhouse with black shutters outlining each of the windows. Robson Road branches off to my right and I only have a quarter mile to go.

“Two fifty-eight, two fifty-nine,” The announcer in my head reads off. “400 to go and these guys are getting going now.”
I steady myself and pick up the pace, bouncing a little higher with each step as I arrive at the crest of the hill and begin a slight decline for the last 200-meters.

“Less than half a lap to go and Boylan-Pett looks like he’s going to get under!”

I hunker down and veer to the right side of the road, picking up the tempo even more. Down the last hundred I float, covering ground as smoothly as possible.

“Three fifty-seven, fifty eight, fifty nine…”

I pass the stop sign to my right and click my watch.

“He just did it ladies and gentlemen! Liam Boylan-Pett has broken four for the mile!...”

I snap out of the track world in my head and glance at my watch. No three on it. Not a five or a nine either. Forty-five minutes and six seconds, it shows.

The imagination of an aspiring high school miler lets you break four even on easy runs.

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.

Conference Meets

The video below, albeit shaky and blurry, is proof of why I love Heps. It is video of my first Heps Title. It was junior year and a 4:08 mile beat out Princeton’s Michael Maag. Yes, I love it because I win. Yes, I love it because the “LBP” chant and nickname was born. But more than that, I love it because this video is Heps.

How can an athlete not get up for a competition with that kind of atmosphere? I brought it that day because it was impossible not to. Other than Penn Relays, there isn’t a place I would rather race (sorry Heps, the 46,000 strong on the Saturday of Penn is unparalleled). Heps was the spot to go. If you didn’t have it that day, I don’t know when you would. I would win two more Heps titles, and both were great, but that first one, with chants filling the Armory, that one is extra sweet.

Bear with me while I relive the glory days. Understand that my sense of self-splendor shuts down when I remember other Heps races: The fall in the prelims of the mile sophomore year followed by a dismal DMR where I stupidly allowed everyone back into the race after Erison ran one of his patented Pass Everyone In The Field relay legs at Dartmouth; sophomore and junior year failing to pass Ben True in the final straightaway of the 1500; or senior year when I failed to anchor a 4x800 relay team to victory and give a surely deserving Jonah Rathbun a Heps Title.

“Almost” – the worst word in sports. I almost had a second gear after getting myself into the race after falling; I almost still outkicked the field to win the DMR; I almost caught True; I almost pulled myself together in the 4x8 to put up a fight.

Even though I no longer have a Heps to run in, even though I hopefully have bigger things on the horizon, I think about these races. They, along with many others, are the reason I’m still chasing.

I am haunted by almosts.

(Video shot by Colin Pile, Columbia ’03)
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USA Indoors are next weekend. I am entered in the 800 and am looking forward to it. After three weeks of travel and racing I finally was able to have a good week of solid training and a weekend at home. On a snow shoveled track (with banks the same height as me) I was able to pound out some quick 150s and 300s on Friday to hopefully have me sharpened up a bit for some quick 800s this weekend. Still hit 68 miles for the week and I’ll back off this week in order to get nice and rested for the weekend. As always, Let’s Go!