Feats of Strength. Fab Five. Five Guys. Guy Fieri. Minute To Win It. Buzzer Beater. Bryce Drew. Valpo. IUPUI. Hoosiers. Greatest Movie Ever. Greatest Documentary Ever. Fab Five.

Pull-Ups on a Subway.

Slownah and I once had a Feats of Strength competition. It was supposed to be first one to 5 wins. We counted races, games, anything of the sort. It was before we high jumped in our living room senior year. He beat me in basketball. He beat me at Pomona in the pouring rain. Then I rocked him in some 8s. We never made it to 5, but I'm still up 3-2. We're supposed to race a 100. Right now, I could definitely beat him in a pull-up war. I dominated Erison in the Subway Pull Up War 22-20. I dominated him just like a certain group of Freshman in Ann Arbor dominated college basketball in the early 90s. I loved the Fab Five. Want a delicious burger? 110 and B'Way just opened up a Five Guys. Guy Fieri is a tool. Fricken "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" is an alright show, but he always has sunglasses behind his head. And now "Minute To Win It" is everywhere. But a minute to win it can be sweet when a Buzzer Beater is involved. Bryce Drew hit one of the greatest Buzzer Beaters ever. He went to Valpo. Valpo has a sweet name, but IUPUI (pronounced eewy peewy) has a sweeter one. IUPUI is in Indiana, that's where Hoosiers takes place. Hoosiers is the Greatest Movie Ever (behind "The Naked Gun" of course). The Greatest Documentary Ever? THE FAB FIVE
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Follow that stream of conscious? Me neither really. The tourney starts tomorrow. Look for a basketball related post to go up Thursday morning.

We're starting to get ready for outdoors, which means we have been working out outside again. This weather needs to step its game up. A 4-mile tempo on a Wednesday morning isn't usually that bad of a thing...but when it's 38 and rainy...show's over. See ya later.

Uni-Watch: The Barefoot Revolution

stupid socks. short shorts.

Remember how my buddy Jonah complained about short shorts, claiming that at the greatest athletic achievement in his life had been tarnished by a pair of "doofy ass shorts"? I did. So when I was meeting him for the end of my run on Saturday morning I changed my outfit. Instead of short shorts and long socks, I went with a much manlier fashion of tights.

Much to my surprise, as I finished my tempo run (I had a 25 minute tempo in the middle of my long run...I met Jonah for my cooldown), I saw him prancing around Central Park in black short shorts and Nike Frees. Luckily, it was cold and windy, so I didn't mind having the tights on.

I hadn't run with Slowns in a while. He has been over in London doing real world stuff like his job. But we jogged for 5 and half miles together where I thought he was hammering and he thought I was hammering. We both staggered through some 6:30 miles before talking ourselves into slowing it down. But back to the Frees Jonah was wearing. They're Nike's version of the barefoot shoe. I've had a few pairs and liked them alright (but just for walking around). And to no surprise, he started wearing them very soon after reading "Born To Run."

I'll give "Born To Run" its due, because it is pretty sweet book. At one point it had me wanting to leave civilization and go run through the mountains. But the barefoot stuff that is going on because of the book is stupid. I'm all for minimalist running, I think it is great to have strong feet and everything, but when I see someone running through Central Park with no shoes on in the freezing cold weather, I get a little upset.

Those Vibram 5-Finger shoes look creepy, but at least they're going to cover your feet. If you're running barefoot in Central, you are pretty much asking to step on a piece of broken glass, horse droppings, or a drug needle. And when there's snow everywhere, what in the ham sandwich are you thinking?

But the main reason I hate barefoot running is because, in reference to his "frees", Slownah kept claiming how awesome it was to run once he "freed" himself.

He then told me how much his calves hurt.

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A few non-related updates:

--February has seen the highest viewership for runLBP...we are already at 899 visitors for the month...the highest month was this July when I was posting daily from Amsterdam. The Detroit piece saw the most action as the site saw over a 100 visitors for two straight days when it was posted.

--Look for a pre-HEPS post come Friday.

--Still getting ready for the Columbia Last Chance meet to close out the indoor season...Either running a 1k or an 800 on March 5th!

REEEESE'S & Costumes

Halloween has come and gone, and I am five pounds heavier due to the influx of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups that took over my diet. Jokes, jokes. But I did eat a ton of Reese’s a la Walt Pett every October. Aside from the candy, I’m not necessarily the hugest Halloween fan (luckily, candy plays a huge role, so I really like Halloween).

Dressing up isn’t my favorite thing, but I play the part if need be. A favorite costume for the children of Walter Pett was Bee Keeper and the white jump suit and mask you had to wear with it. It was easy enough, even if the suit for a 6 foot 2 inch man was a bit big for us. This year I was Zorro, and the drawn on mustache was legit.

While there are thousands of costumes out there, in the realm of running related costumes, there are only a few to consider. Halloween always falls around the Conference Championships for College XC teams, so here are some things for the college runner to consider for their after conference Halloween get-together:

1 – Be Usain Bolt. Get the arms. Get the outfit. Strike the pose. It is an easy and awesome costume. My brother Will pulled it off even if it was only because we had no other costume options.

2 – Dress up as one of your coaches. It will always get a few laughs amongst your teammates. But don’t wear it to a non-track event, then it won’t make much sense at all.

3 – Be an awesome runner that you know. My buddy Jonah pulled it off perfectly:

I knew I had made it when someone portrayed me for Halloween. Too bad I couldn’t make this list for you all before Halloween…

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.

4x4s

I have been reading Bill Simmon's The Book of Basketball. It has been an entertaining read, especially in his ranking of the top 96 NBA basketball players of all time (even if it was completely Boston skewed and he either berates a really good player for his fallbacks - Kobe doesn't seem all that great - or praises him as the greatest ever - Kevin McHale is written as being astoundingly good). One thing that Simmons keeps on bringing up is his Mt. Rushmore's. So, as Mt. Rushmore is home to the faces of four of our nations greatest presidents, Simmons has Mt. Rushmore's for fast food, sports movies, and so on.

The track world has an equivalent to a Mt. Rushmore hypothetical game, only way better. Ours is the 4x4.

The 4x4 is the most exciting race in track. Even back in middle school people loved the 4x4. I remember lining the fence to watch the high schoolers run the 4x4 when I was in middle school. And in hypothetical games (of which runners are very familiar due to spending hours with one another on trails, roads and tracks), it adds a fun layer.

The great part of your very own 4x4 is that it also allows you to analyze your four favorites of something by the order you run them in your relay. So say I was going to do a 4x4 of my favorite fast food chains, it would go as follows:
Lead-off: Wendy's
Second: Taco Bell
Third: In N' Out Burger
Anchor: McDonalds
An analysis: Wendy's leads off my relay because it is a reliable fast food chain that isn't going to knock you out of the park but it always going to produce some nice solid food (no one can complain with a 5 piece chicken nugg and a frosty). As with a lead-off leg, your team is just looking for a solid racer who isn't going to mess up, but just hand off near the front of the pack. The second leg is when things usually heat up, most of the time the legs are going to be fast, and you have to be able to put a fast runner out there for the sake of staying in the race. Taco Bell is your second leg due to its ability to put forth fast times (crunchwrap supremes) and go. Then you go In N' Out, even though I have only been there a few times, because it is going to do pretty much the same thing for you every time, which is exactly what you want out of a third leg. It is going to keep you in position leading into your anchor leg. And the anchor leg is where you definitely put your big gun. Some teams put their big-gun second, but that is a way of hiding your strongest runner, and it ultimately means that you're a little frightened of what to do with that fast leg. McDonalds never backs down. The place is fast food royalty. It can run a race any way (McDonalds reference: cheeseburgers, big macs, chicken sandwiches, McNuggs, fries, salads and fruit for healthy options) and it closes hard no matter what the case (McFlurrys).

So, next time you're out for a run (or just bored sitting around) try to develop some of your own 4x4s. And for those of you new to the site, I usually end each article and then do a summary of my training for the week, here is that summary.
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Had a nice week with my first day off where I didn't actually feel like I needed a day off on Saturday. It was nice being back in DC with some higher quality weather and got in some good training for the week. I put up 65 miles in 6 days with a long run of 13. The workouts worked both some aerobic and anaerobic capacities as Tuesday I did some 1ks and then Friday saw Bumbi, Krisch and I running some hills and then 400s and 200s on a snow covered track. 9x1k is not a fun workout, even if it isn't super fast, but its one of those things I need to work on. And then the 400s were at a faster 3k pace while I got to run some 200s at mile pace on the hills and track combined workout. I like that stuff so much more than 1ks.

The racing schedule is still up in the air, but I do know that I am going to be opening up next weekend at Penn State! Not exactly sure what I will be racing, but definitely looking forward to getting out there and getting the competitive juices flowing again.

I hope you enjoy the site, check everything out and email me if you have any comments or suggestions. Let's Go!

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.
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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.