Willamette River

So a quick crack recap of the opening race of the outdoor season: It sucked.

The last time I was in Oregon was in 2009 for the US Outdoor Championships. I didn't run badly there (closed in 54 to run 3:41.8 but missed finals by a tenth of a second), but missing the final was no fun. The day of the final I was instead doing a long run along the trails in Eugene with Bumbi. We had an early wake-up call for the run (8 am...), I was upset about not being in the final, and I had had too many mt. dews the night before (they weren't really Mt. Dews)...the run wasn't going well, so I stuck my head in the Willamette River. It saved the run.

After the race on Saturday I had to get in mileage because travel wasn't going to allow me to get in a Sunday run. I came up on the spot of the Willamette again and really thought about dunking my head in there again. But I didn't. It looked far too cold.

The fact that I even thought about it shows you how upset I was after my race. It wasn't a good one, and it was my own fault for running like I did. As you can see from the video up top, I got out wayyyyy too slow and then never got myself into good enough position to be in the race.

I have the small excuse of being tripped up with 300 to go, but it was my own fault for being in the position to get tripped up. I still closed fairly well, but I gotta get after it in some upcoming 800s and learn how to race it much better. It had been far too long since I'd been in a good one.

Luckily for me, this was the first race of the season and if I race at the level I'm planning to the rest of the way I'll forget this one ever happened. I'll be at Princeton the 22nd racing another 800 before heading to Penn for the open mile there.

New Spikes

Deja Vu?? - finally time to race for me. (pic courtesy of Kyle Merber)

My old spikes are strewn about the country. The most special ones are under my bed here in New York: the red Milers we won Penn in are there; the navy and white Victorys that I broke 4 in for the first time still have red dust from the mondo of the armory. My home back in Michigan has the important high school spikes: the red, cheetah-spotted Ventulas I ran 1:51 in; the black Kennedys that took me to a 4:10. Then there are the rest of the spikes. They could be anywhere. I gave a pair of MaxCats to my buddy Weeth. I definitely left a pair or two in my locker at Gtown. I donated some to a shoe drive -- so my spikes may be strewn across the globe. My latest pair of spikes has been relegated to workouts. They may go under the bed with the other keepsake spikes, but they didn't have a ton of great moments. But there's a new pair to give status to now.

I love a new pair of spikes. They're different from regular running shoes or training flats...they're sacred. Regular shoes you just put on and go out for a run. Spikes? No, you put them on when you first get them and they clink and clack on your wooden floor as you delicately walk around in them and careen your neck around and around to glance at them to make sure they look cool enough, but spikes are for special occasions: Racing.

I just got a new pair of spikes for the Outdoor Season. It starts up Saturday for me. I'll be catching a flight to Eugene Thursday afternoon after a pre-race workout and then Saturday will be go time. Two laps on the track is all I'll need to get the season going. And it should be a blast.

It is the Pepsi Invitational and it's mostly a college race, but Coach Lanana was nice enough to let Gags put me in the 800 field to get a good season opener going. I haven't seen the field, but it will definitely be a good one as U. of Oregon and OTC have a ton of high quality guys. It will be a very good opportunity to race some fast guys. I'm pumped.

I'll lace up the new spikes and race my butt off.