Hup Holland Hup!

Cat in the wall? Now you’re speaking my language!

I have lived with a CatDog all year. It is a cat, but it is named CatDog. CatDog and I had one beautiful moment – a nap on a sleepy day with her curled up on the couch right at my feet – and a year full of me yelling at her for getting too close to my food or meowing outside my door as I tried to sleep. So when our “landlord” left us a note to make sure the windows were closed so as not to allow the cats in, I quickly obliged. Sure enough…cats are all over our courtyard. So those windows stay closed when we travel around town.

About to head out to the track for a workout, so will leave some pictures up of our travels (head to the blog to see them...). It’s been fun so far, and got to meet up with my Aunt Kathy and Cousin Moira last night. It was great to see family 3000 miles from home.

Heading up to the 1928 Olympic Stadium for the Coach Wood Classic 1Ks followed by 5-3-2s! Let’s Go!

Olympic Stadium

The Track

The door to our apartment.

Cat in the Wall!?

That's Where That Came From!

I have told Headband Origin Stories before (something about the Charlotte Hornets), but it turns out I was wrong all along.

Like a lot of good things in this life, the LBP Headband came from, as it turns out, my Dad. Yup, that’s him rocking the headband back in the day during a Kalamzoo Klassic 5k Run circa 1978. There was only a 23 year drought, but I kept the fad going my sophomore year of high school. Thankfully, my Dad had the right idea back in his running heyday.

A Happy Father’s Day to all!
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Training this week was pretty fun. I did some easy aerobic stuff on Tuesday and then came back on Friday for some 1500 pace stuff doing two sets of 1,2,3,4,4 all at 58 pace but with the second 400 on each set getting faster each 100, so going 16,15,14,13 (although on the last set Bumbi led me through in 14.4, 14.4, 13.4, 12.8 for a little under the suggested 58 pace). It was a fun workout and hopefully let me know that I’ll be ready to trounce out some 58 second laps come USAs and the summer season.

As of now, it looks like I’ll be heading to Vancouver for the Harry Jerome Track Classic on July 5th to kick off my summer season…I’m pretty excited about it, and am really excited to check out the city. From there, who knows what will happen, but I am definitely going to be ready to run some good races this summer, so I’m pretty syked to get going.

Prelims of the 1500 are Friday night in Des Moines…wish me luck, its go time now; the race I’ve been looking forward to all year. Can’t wait.

LET’S GO!!!!!!!

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.

Easter With the Fam and April Fools Runion

Sorry for the delayed post on this one. Yes it is Tuesday. And yes I did promise posts by Monday, but it was Easter Weekend and my family was in town, so you’ll have to give me a break. It was a big week last week, so there is a lot to update on.

I had a race, a tough workout, and some serious PowerBar eating, so all in all it was a pretty good week.

The race wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done for what we were trying to accomplish this weekend. I was supposed to make sure that it went pretty quick from the gun. This way I would get some lactic acid buildup and remember what it felt like to rig home the last hundred of a race. So, this meant that I was going to straight lead a race for the first time in a loooong time. The problem is, my first step isn’t crazy quick, and I was out the back the first 100-meters. But I could tell people were settling so I rolled through the next hundred and found myself in the lead at the 200 mark.

Yikes, it wasn’t that much fun to be in the lead. You notice the wind more, you notice the speed more, its tough. But it was definitely something I needed to do. I came through 400 in 54low and then rolled around the 600 in 1:21low. I tried to hold off the field around the turn and a runner went by me with 120 to go. Now normally in that situation I would throw in the towel. But I fought my way through the last 80 and even started catching the leader with about 40 to go. Alas, the track ran out of room and I found myself in 2nd, but a 1:49.82 opening 800 leading the whole way will have to do for now.

And looking at what else what down this week in terms of training I was pretty happy with how it all turned out. Tuesday was a 5xmile workout with the last mile at 4:30, so I ended up being pretty tired heading into Friday’s race. Got in my 72 miles for the week and now in the midst of another big week. With Some big races in Cali coming up, we’ll cut down the mileage a little bit, but the season is still very young, so there’s a long way to go.

As a special treat, enjoy this April Fool's Runion! article. It’s a nice little piece I drew up back in the day. Remember also to check out the Runion! archives to see any of the other pieces.

Let’s Go!

Addendum: For footage of my Stanford 1500 Opener, check out:
http://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?do=videos&year=2010&pg=1&event_id=57&video_id=22793&folder_id=1430&offset=3#video
Thanks to Columbia grad John Sun, for the email!

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!

An Introduction to runLBP.com

Welcome! This little blurb will be an introduction to what you can expect from runLBP.com and from me as I try to give you a glimpse into my life as a runner.

For those of you who don't me, I am Liam Boylan-Pett (also known in some running circles as "The Headband Kid" and "LBP" (hence the name of the site)). Having just finished up my collegiate eligibility last spring after some successful stints at Columbia and Georgetown, I'm trying to make it as a professional runner. With this website I'm hoping to give viewers a look into what I hope is what it takes to make the jump to be a successful professional track athlete.

I am also hoping that the site is entertaining. My articles (I hate the word blog for some reason) are not going to be purely training based, but rather some random thoughts as well. My goal with this is to show who I am not only as a runner, but who I am as a person. I always used to get this idea of people on Flotrack and Let'sRun as being larger than life, but as I met a good deal of them last year I realized they're all regular people too.

There will be a new article on the site every Sunday (most likely in the night). It will be a journal type entry that will go over something I have been thinking about on my runs, and then a look into my training and workouts from the past week. Also make sure to check out the archives in case you've missed an entry or want to check from my previous blog that goes over my European trip from last summer. On top of that, I will always be updating my "list" section with fun articles or books I think the public should enjoy. Be sure to check out race videos and interviews, along with a few projects I worked have worked on in the footage section of the site. And also, a special treat in the form of a Runion article (which are spoof type running articles I write for fun) can be expected every once in a while.

For now, this intro will remain the centerpiece of the front page, but soon enough, every new article will be the main attraction. Each week, the newest article will be available in full on the front page. The last three will also be available in snippets, and be sure to click on the “Archive” at the bottom of the homepage to check out my past entries as well.

This is my first attempt at a site on this web we call world wide, so bear with me in the coming months. But I am looking forward to adding even more pages and fun aspects to the site. Check out the site, let me know what you think by contacting me through the “contact me” at the bottom of the page. Stay tuned for more Runion articles, more Will Run For Food type videos. Most importantly, stay in touch to see how I survive my first year as a B-list Runner! As always, Let's Go!

That's The Midwest For Ya...

The above picture is my Dad’s camper (legitimately called a Scamp) that has gotten him some mileage throughout the years. My Dad knows how to bargain; he once traded $60 and two jars of salsa for an old Toyota truck…his salsa is really good. This picture of the camper was last year’s Xmas card for Walt.

I finally made it back to Michigan, and it was just in time for a Christmas filled with gusting winds and accompanying rainfall that wiped all the snow away. I think DC and Michigan decided to switch their normal weather patterns for the past week.

Not to worry, last night the snow returned and its back to me sliding my way through my runs. I like snow running though. I try not to even look at my watch and just go out for the mile markers that I know in Bath, of which there are plenty. I feel like more of a badass with snow running, maybe it’s because the air seems thinner due to the cold or the small steps I take so carefully so as not to fall (not to say I haven’t bitten the dust a few too many times on these roads.)

But, the show must go on, especially in Man Month, so I continue to go out in weather like the picture that follows (although this pic is from last year, the snow is almost at this height already):

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The running went pretty well last week. Was able to do a 4 mile tempo and then got in some 200s yesterday after getting a day off this week because of the holidays. Yesterday, thanks to the rain, I got up to the old high school track and pounded out 12×200 with a 200 jog. It was meant to be a get used to your pace type workout so they were each supposed to be in the 30 second range.

Thanks to the gusting winds, I was a little varied on the times hitting anything from 30point high to 28point low. Overall it was a good workout, and even in the sub-freezing temperatures I was able to get in a solid workout.

My racing schedule is still non-existent for the sole reason that we don’t know what races I will be able to get into. Hopefully I’m in good enough shape to get into some of the bigger US indoor meets. I will be sure to keep everyone updated.

And in great news, expect an announcement sometime after the new year about an update to runLBP…it’s exciting stuff.

Let’s Go!

MAN MONTH

December has been a great month for me. I don’t mind the cold (that’s what being a Michigan boy does for you), school is almost over (just a 20 page story about racing trains due this Wednesday), and it is MAN MONTH.

Man Month is something my brother, our buddy Kevin Verge, and I started about a year ago. At the risk of sounding like a misogynist pig, we do everything in these months as manly as possible. So that means I’m running hard, lifting hard, eating steak raw…you know, the basics.

Man Month is a way for us all to make sure that we are getting things done, and getting them done right. Say it was today and it was rainy and cold and I didn’t really feel like going for my run…Man Month makes you go for your runs.

This year, Alan Weeth joined in with Kevin, Will and I for Man Month, he has done nothing but act manly. The champion of his bowling league, he has continually sent out pictures of him eating skyline chili, there is even rumor that his arms no longer fit in his shirts, because his muscles have become too big.

The funny thing about Man Month for me is that it really got things rolling for me in its original installment. February of ‘09 was the original Man Month. However, I knew that I was running in a fast mile on January the 31st. I moved the month one day up, and for the first time in my life, a 3 was the first number listed in my mile time.
God, I love Man Month…
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And now each week I’ll put a little bit more in there about my actual running life. Don’t worry, the completely non-running related topics (although in my life pretty much everything makes its way back to running in some way or another) will continue on, but there will be some more training oriented issues talked about.

This week was a pretty relaxed one, with some more strength based stuff that I have been working on as the main attraction. Tuesday we did a 6xmile workout that ended up being a pretty tough one. It was one of the times where coach had originally told me I would be doing 5, but then at the last second decided that 6 was better.

There’s no real secret to “by-mile” workouts, usually just 60 seconds rest in between each one. So my group clicked off miles of 4:56, 4:56, 4:56, 4:55, then instead of the 60 seconds, we were only given 45, and we ran 4:52 then were given only 30 seconds and ran a 4:49 final mile. The rest is what kills you on that one.

Hit my usual 70 miles for the week with a nice long run with the team down around the monuments. Let’s Go!

Tempo Runs

There are a few times every year where I really question the whole “I want to be a runner thing.” It always seems to happen during a tempo run. I hate tempo runs.

For those unaware, a tempo run is, scientifically speaking, running at your aerobic threshold for a long time, most often in the 20-30 minute range. In layman’s terms, this means being on the edge of trying really hard, but not quite running all out for that period of time. In my terms, it means that it sucks.

Tempo runs are the kind of thing that feel really good for about 10 minutes, and then your body slowly starts to let you know that you’re not supposed to be doing this. Everything starts to shut down, the legs become heavy, the stomach begins to tie up in knots, the shoulders stiffen. But then you have another 10 to 20 minutes to go.

Paul O’Neil of Sports Illustrated once wrote:
“A man who sets out to become an artist at the mile is something like a man who sets out to discover the most graceful method of being hanged. No matter how logical his plans, he can not carry them out without physical suffering.” – “A Man Conquers Himself,” May 31, 1956

I feel this way about tempo runs.

As it turns out, the tempo being one of my weaknesses, Coach Henner has made sure that I have improved upon it. Last fall’s training log was filled with 8 mile tempos, he even through a 10-miler in there once so that I would learn to focus for 55 minutes.

And even as my tempos have improved, they haven’t become any more fun. This past Friday was a 6 miler with three freshman on the team. What was meant to be a progression run of miles at 6:00, 5:50, 5:40, 5:30, 5:20, and finally 5:10 turned into a nice little 6 miler that went 5:37, 5:40, 5:36, 5:31, 5:14, 5:04.

There will be plenty more tempos, and there will be plenty more of me complaining to myself that I have to do them. However, I understand what they mean, and I’ll continue to give them my best shot. The worst part will be the tempo tummy that follows.

Tom Petty: Running Down My Dreams

I am semi convinced that Tom Petty is trying to ruin my life. I am also worried that he has threatened the creators of Pandora and iTunes’ Genius with their lives. (For those not familiar, Pandora and Genius take a band that you like and try to create playlists that have similar musical qualities with bands you maybe haven’t listened to as much.)

Those two hunches have been contrived in light of recent Pandora and iTunes’ Genius ventures. It seems that everywhere I turn Tom Petty shows up in my playlists. I had enjoyed rocking a Refreshments/Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers radio station, however, Petty kept on showing up. Even after multiple thumbs down he was all over me. Then, I tried to use my iPod to go with some of my more familiar music. I decided that I wanted a playlist with songs similar to “Thunder Road” – four to five Petty songs show up, I think there are only four to five Petty songs on that iPod! He is legitimately everywhere. And I know Tom Petty has made some great songs, but I could use some breathing room.

Which brings me to the point of this supposed running blog: Running with music. I am neither a proponent or opponent. We received iPod shuffles at NCAAs last year, so I have donned it on a run or two, but I have found that I run a little too fast with it. My Mom listens to radio shows on her, but for me that would make the act of running even boringer (I understand that isn’t a word).

However, it’s time for me to write a news broadcast for my basic news writing class…talk about boringer. I leave you with a picture from my Columbia days for no reason other than the fact that Brian Horneck posted it on his facebook not too long ago. It is after HEPS 1500 my sophomore year, Horneck, Gabe Johnston and I went 2-5-6, signaling the beginning of a middle distance domination of HEPS for years to come.

Another Runion Weekend

Life has been good in DC lately. Getting into a routine of running and working and school, and I cannot complain. I realized that my season is only 2 months away now, so excitement has started creeping in. Indoors is going to be a very fun time for me with lots of racing and lots of training. There is no real plan out there yet for as to exactly what races I’ll be running, but that will come once we see how I’m running.

Then, in terms of the rest of this post, I have some actual homework to do, so you will once again be given a glimpse of The Runion. This particular article is the one that almost created stardom for the start-up website. It was after Tiger Woods won the US Open on a bum knee, and I wasn’t too impressed. So, I wrote an article with a few likenesses to the situation. The article was featured on SportsIllustrated.com’s “Hot Clicks” (a compilation of fun sports links) and the numbers of people checking the site sky rocketed.

I had promised that if I ever reached 10,000 visitors in one day that I would jump into the Hudson River. Well at 11am the amount of visitors to the site was up to 2,791. “Oh dear God!” I remember thinking.

However, it was at about this time that it was revealed Tiger Woods was going to be getting surgery on his injured knee and his accomplishment was actually pretty impressive…well as impressive a golfing accomplishment can be.
The link was removed, the visitors for the day stopped at 2,791 and The Runion returned to anonymity.
Here was the article:

RUNNER INJURES PINKY; STILL EAKS OUT A WIN

PEACHTREE, GA — Brushing aside any doubts concerning his injury, Lionel “Lion” Forest fought through unbearable pain to win the second major race of the Peachtree, Georgia Amateur Racing Series (or the PGA Racing Series), the Utley Supermarket Open 5k (or the US Open 5k).

Forest, the twenty five year old accountant, suffered a paper cut on his pinky only two days before the race. Attempting the Grand Slam of the PGA Racing Series, Forest had already won the Slam’s first leg in convincing fashion. However, having taken two days off to tend to his pinky, there was worry that he would falter on the challenging US Open course. That worry quickly turned to jubilation as Forest once again crossed the finish line in first, holding up two fingers as he broke the tape.

“I was ready for anything out there today,” said Forest, who blew away the field in the last 400 meters, winning by 4 seconds to keep his hope of winning the Grand Slam alive. “But let me tell you,” he continued, “that cut really stung once some of my sweat seeped through my band aid.”

Now, having won both the US Open and The Masterbators (which is put on by the sperm clinic in nearby Augusta), Forest’s attention will move to getting healthy for the British Bakery Open next week before the final leg of the Slam, the PGA Racing Series Championship in two weeks time. He will be applying Neosporin and Band-Aids on the hour every hour in preparation for his next run.

“We couldn’t be prouder of Lionel,” said PGA Racing Series Director Jonathan Newman. “He is what racing is all about in the PGA. There is a stigma that members of the PGA aren’t as tough as the rest of the sports world, but let me tell you, these guys go through a lot. I mean a paper-cut and this guy is out there competing? You show me another sport where someone is doing that!”

With comparisons to Tiger Woods’ performance at the Professional Golf Association’s United States Open, Lion Forest was not so quick to place himself in the same breath as the great golfer.

“Are you kidding me?” he replied when asked if he thought his performance was similar to that of Woods’, who had knee surgery eight weeks ago. “Tiger’s a pussy. I had a fucking paper cut! A PAPER CUT! You know how bad those sting?!”

Phitens and Heps and Peanut Butter Cups

It is rumored that Gilbert Arenas, the NBA star, tried out an altitude tent in order to help in get in shape for b-ball season. He decided that it was working too well, and that it felt like he was “cheating,” so he stopped using it. This is exactly how I feel about my new Phiten Titanium Necklace.

You may recognize the Phiten Necklace from Major League Baseball. A lot of guys use the thing that supposedly aids in recovery of muscles by increasing your circulation. I was pretty skeptical about the things, but then my roommates and I decided that we should start a new fad. And recovery necklaces were the route we chose.

Let’s just say that before I got my Phiten, my body ached at all times, and now I sometimes don’t even realize that I was just running for 20 miles at 6 minute pace. The thing just makes you feel great and recovered at all times.

And the fad has taken off. Will and Delilah up in New York have joined in. Kevin up in New Hampshire and Renee in D.C. have donned the necklaces. Hell, even Alan in Columbus has decided to join in on the Phiten Phun! And we all feel great. And yes, it is all in our heads.

And on top of that, my fastball has improved drastically since I started wearing Phiten.

If you do check my web journal often enough, then you saw that Columbia won HEPS this weekend in dramatic fashion. HEPS is an indescribable meet filled with emotion and heart. Somehow, men and women become heroes on this day only to return to their normal selves very soon after.

For an Ivy League runner HEPS has everything to do with it. It is a double sided sword, but the sharper side shines brightest. What I mean by that is this: Sometimes we put too much emotional energy into something like the Ivy League Championship that the rest of our season is compromised. However, I wouldn’t change a thing. HEPS is where you compete your balls off and nothing else matters. Times don’t matter, weather doesn’t matter, place is the only thing that counts.

HEPS is where every Ivy League school hates each other. HEPS is where every Ivy League school respects one another. HEPS is where Jimmy Wyner was DQ’d for celebrating. HEPS is where I became LBP as the chants roared through the Armory in 2007 when I won my first Heptagonal Crown.

In the end, I have supposedly moved on to bigger and better things, but HEPS will always have a special place in my heart.
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Just so I have a reason for the title of my entry…instead of dressing up for Halloween last night since all of my friends were getting back late from Big East XC, I spent the night eating REESE’S Peanut Butter cups…I have no complaints.