Eureka!Friday and the end of the work week,it's amazing how frustrated I've been in the past two weeks at work and I only worked 4 day work weeks both weeks.
I made a conscious decision in mid November to have a more positive attitude not just at work,but in training/racing,life whatever and until last week I felt it was paying off but whatever it was,maybe it was the crippling fiscal issues w/ the bank and everything that came w/ it,maybe the issue of missing out on the Olympic Development 5,000m or the bullshit w/ the club almost being kept out of the Penn Relays,maybe it was the increase in mileage,what ever it was last week and this week at work wasn't the lovable roguish Alfie Moon persona I've tried to uphold since mid November,and for whatever reason/reasons today I was able to rise above all the crap that I'd allowed to get to me last week and this week and not allow myself to dragged down to a level below where I want to be.
Home and out on the road by 5pm,I was pleasantly surprised to clock 64 mins again today,I thought I might ease off the gas a little w/ a 5x1,000m on tap tomorrow,I'm pretty sure if I hadn't eased up over the closing few miles this evening I believe I'd have gotten under 64 minutes,that said I'm confident of doing the business on the track tomorrow period,but I also want to see how I match up against my last 5x1,000m from April 10th.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
You're Having A Giggle Aren't Ya?
Following hard on the heals of my return to repeats yesterday it was back to the road more travelled these days,an out and back 10 miler along Cobbs Creek Parkway.
It was a glorious afternoon to be running,hard to believe we're two months removed from all that snow.
Unofficially 64 minutes,a pleasant surprise and proof that the shift in gears from mileage to speed and back to mileage had little to no effect on me,it may be prudent to take a little off of tomorrows 10 milers b4 tackling Saturday's 5x1,000m repeats.
And so to this week's Work WTF moment,hard to believe in three days I have SO much to pick from but after today there was little or no doubt on why I chose this!!!
Now this may come as a shock....but there are some people who don't like me....I know that's hard to imagine but it's true,yes I can be"as pleasant as cancer" first thing in the morning and have been known to be as cuddly as a porcupine on any given day but that's me can I help it if I have an opinion on almost everything and I'm seldom shy on voicing it??
Long story short any day "Spongebob" from the mail room has to deliver the deliveries to Moss I know that"Houston we have a problem"
She's had a beef w/ me for eons,she'll walk through the dock and say hello to Chris and John everyday but ignore me which is fine, believe me NOT speaking to me is doing me a huge favour.
Anywho w/ Chris off and John the poster child of"I don't write anything up" I knew what was coming,cue "Spongebob" looking at the three Moss deliveries.....instead of just asking me if I could write them up she went into one,chuntering to John how she isn't taking them,then she's on the phone to her supervisor and it took John to ask her to ask me if I could write them up for her.......jesus christ,if I wanted to work w/ kids I'd work in a kindergarten!!!
She somehow managed to ask me if I could write them up,not a problem,in spite of the fact I CAN'T stand you,and I was up to my eyeballs busy w/ doing the workload of two people I stopped what I was doing to write them up....the end.....or so I thought......
She gets into a diatribe w/ John b4 leaving to deliver them and says.....and I quote"if the shit ain't written up next time I ain't delivering it"...................HELLO the shit wasn't written up to begin w/,why didn't you just leave it then.............and as if that wasn't enough she has her supervisor come up after she left citing how the mail room isn't responsible for delivering this stuff to Moss anymore...really cos they've been doing it for the 10 years I've been here and however long b4 that.....only seems to be a problem when "Spongebob" has to do it......do us all a favour.....and fuck off back to the foot of the ocean will ya!!!
It was a glorious afternoon to be running,hard to believe we're two months removed from all that snow.
Unofficially 64 minutes,a pleasant surprise and proof that the shift in gears from mileage to speed and back to mileage had little to no effect on me,it may be prudent to take a little off of tomorrows 10 milers b4 tackling Saturday's 5x1,000m repeats.
And so to this week's Work WTF moment,hard to believe in three days I have SO much to pick from but after today there was little or no doubt on why I chose this!!!
Now this may come as a shock....but there are some people who don't like me....I know that's hard to imagine but it's true,yes I can be"as pleasant as cancer" first thing in the morning and have been known to be as cuddly as a porcupine on any given day but that's me can I help it if I have an opinion on almost everything and I'm seldom shy on voicing it??
Long story short any day "Spongebob" from the mail room has to deliver the deliveries to Moss I know that"Houston we have a problem"
She's had a beef w/ me for eons,she'll walk through the dock and say hello to Chris and John everyday but ignore me which is fine, believe me NOT speaking to me is doing me a huge favour.
Anywho w/ Chris off and John the poster child of"I don't write anything up" I knew what was coming,cue "Spongebob" looking at the three Moss deliveries.....instead of just asking me if I could write them up she went into one,chuntering to John how she isn't taking them,then she's on the phone to her supervisor and it took John to ask her to ask me if I could write them up for her.......jesus christ,if I wanted to work w/ kids I'd work in a kindergarten!!!
She somehow managed to ask me if I could write them up,not a problem,in spite of the fact I CAN'T stand you,and I was up to my eyeballs busy w/ doing the workload of two people I stopped what I was doing to write them up....the end.....or so I thought......
She gets into a diatribe w/ John b4 leaving to deliver them and says.....and I quote"if the shit ain't written up next time I ain't delivering it"...................HELLO the shit wasn't written up to begin w/,why didn't you just leave it then.............and as if that wasn't enough she has her supervisor come up after she left citing how the mail room isn't responsible for delivering this stuff to Moss anymore...really cos they've been doing it for the 10 years I've been here and however long b4 that.....only seems to be a problem when "Spongebob" has to do it......do us all a favour.....and fuck off back to the foot of the ocean will ya!!!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Back To The House Of Pain
As I stated yesterday this was my first 6x600m repeat since Feb 2nd,in fairness I haven't been a complete stranger to repeats,although having said that in the almost 5 weeks since Indoor Nationals I've been on the track three times...but two of those were my 5,000m and 10,000m races,then again this was my third visit to Franklin Field since last Thursday....but my first on the track!!!
In this day and age of corporate sponsorship I'm happy to announce this evenings repeats were brought to you by The Simpsons.......because I forgot to put my stopwatch in my bag last nite.....
DOH!!!!,thankfully the boffins at Apple put a stop watch on my ipod so everything was not lost,note to self next time I do a repeat workout make sure my watch is packed the nite b4!!!
I arrived at sunny Franklin Field around 5pm,it felt good to be back here,I can't get too comfortable it'll be off limits again soon for Penn Graduation but after that Franklin Field will be home sweet home for my remaining repeats b4 Nationals.
Warm up completed it was have at it time,how would my speed fair after a month of mileage?
#1,600m 1.47.6.Unfortunately I was unable to read my stopwatch on my ipod at 400m so not only no 400m split,but no way of knowing my pace,I would have to run on feel,that said 1.47.6. felt pretty good to open.
#2,600m 1.48.8.So far,so good even w/ no way of knowing what I was coming through the 400m in and my 12 week layoff of trips to the "Death Zone"
#3,600m 1.49.6. Uh oh,getting dangerously close to the 1.50 mark,no proper stopwatch/12 week layoff or not I still wanted to go 6x6 sub 1.50.
#4,600m 1.43.7. Where the fuck did that come from?who cares!!!,although that said I had to hope I hadn't drained the tanks dry w/ 2 repeats to go,I have to say my recovery was good in between repeats,again w/out a watch it was hard to judge but I would go out on a limb my recovery was 2 and a half minutes/3 minutes.
#5,600m 1.48.6.No instant payback for my 1.43.7. which was nice,while "one swallow does not a summer make" I have to say my spike in mileage recently wasn't hindering my speed thankfully.
#6.600m 1.45.9.Oh yeah!way to finish strong and complete my 6/6 sub 1.50,for shits and giggles on Feb 2nd I went:1.45.6,1.48.1,1.49.2,1.54.3,1.58.3,1.50.4.the improvement is there for everyone to see including my oft suspect pacing.
Cool down completed I logged 5 miles for the nite,putting me on 50 mile for the week pace,sadly my plans for a return to my beloved Franklin Field Friday a for 5x1,000m repeat has been put on hold due to an Ivy League Women's Lacrosse tournament here this weekend,hey ho I can trek out to Lower Merion High School on Saturday to round out the week.
It's a tad early to be touting this as a stellar start to phase two of my training for Outdoor Nationals but I must say I'm very pleased so far.
In this day and age of corporate sponsorship I'm happy to announce this evenings repeats were brought to you by The Simpsons.......because I forgot to put my stopwatch in my bag last nite.....
DOH!!!!,thankfully the boffins at Apple put a stop watch on my ipod so everything was not lost,note to self next time I do a repeat workout make sure my watch is packed the nite b4!!!
I arrived at sunny Franklin Field around 5pm,it felt good to be back here,I can't get too comfortable it'll be off limits again soon for Penn Graduation but after that Franklin Field will be home sweet home for my remaining repeats b4 Nationals.
Warm up completed it was have at it time,how would my speed fair after a month of mileage?
#1,600m 1.47.6.Unfortunately I was unable to read my stopwatch on my ipod at 400m so not only no 400m split,but no way of knowing my pace,I would have to run on feel,that said 1.47.6. felt pretty good to open.
#2,600m 1.48.8.So far,so good even w/ no way of knowing what I was coming through the 400m in and my 12 week layoff of trips to the "Death Zone"
#3,600m 1.49.6. Uh oh,getting dangerously close to the 1.50 mark,no proper stopwatch/12 week layoff or not I still wanted to go 6x6 sub 1.50.
#4,600m 1.43.7. Where the fuck did that come from?who cares!!!,although that said I had to hope I hadn't drained the tanks dry w/ 2 repeats to go,I have to say my recovery was good in between repeats,again w/out a watch it was hard to judge but I would go out on a limb my recovery was 2 and a half minutes/3 minutes.
#5,600m 1.48.6.No instant payback for my 1.43.7. which was nice,while "one swallow does not a summer make" I have to say my spike in mileage recently wasn't hindering my speed thankfully.
#6.600m 1.45.9.Oh yeah!way to finish strong and complete my 6/6 sub 1.50,for shits and giggles on Feb 2nd I went:1.45.6,1.48.1,1.49.2,1.54.3,1.58.3,1.50.4.the improvement is there for everyone to see including my oft suspect pacing.
Cool down completed I logged 5 miles for the nite,putting me on 50 mile for the week pace,sadly my plans for a return to my beloved Franklin Field Friday a for 5x1,000m repeat has been put on hold due to an Ivy League Women's Lacrosse tournament here this weekend,hey ho I can trek out to Lower Merion High School on Saturday to round out the week.
It's a tad early to be touting this as a stellar start to phase two of my training for Outdoor Nationals but I must say I'm very pleased so far.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Life Imitates Art....Or Vice Versa
"I'll wait for you till I turn blue there's nothing more a man can do
Don't get your bollocks in a twist,settle down don't take a fit
Ya drank w/ demons straight from hell they almost nearly won as well
Ya wiped the floor w/ victory then puked until you fell asleep"
Salty Dog- Flogging Molly
Nothing like returning to work after an extended weekend to make you realize why you took Friday and Monday off to begin w/!!!!
I'll spare you the gore but the cliff notes version is:I feel I'm getting taken for a mug,my boss is either clueless as to the day to day running of our department or is willing to let me do all the donkey work since evidently I'm expected to do it anyway and it was done by otherpeople while I was off...
But the piece de resistance I find out both my coworkers are taking off next Tuesday...the same day I have to leave early to take the bus to New York to run at Ichan,when I email my boss{we're back to not speaking a la the last three months off last year} I was informed she had no knowledge of both of them taking the day off{St Paddy's Day allover again}....sorry you run the department....how could you not know they both requested off......or is it a case of Eyore will do all the donkey work as usual,race or no race they can kiss my lillywhite Irish arse I 'm not busting a gut for these clowns.
Maybe that's why tonites 10 miler finished w/ a florish and a 63 minute time,nothing like some work related angst to get you fired up for a run.!!!
Tomorrow sees me return to the track for some repeats,having put down a base it's now time to work on my speed so for the first time since Feb 2nd it's into the "Death Zone"6x600m,it's gonna be a rude awakening but it has to be done.....who knows if work pisses me off again tomorrow{every chance of that I'd bet!!} I might be in rare form by the time I hit Franklin Field.
Don't get your bollocks in a twist,settle down don't take a fit
Ya drank w/ demons straight from hell they almost nearly won as well
Ya wiped the floor w/ victory then puked until you fell asleep"
Salty Dog- Flogging Molly
Nothing like returning to work after an extended weekend to make you realize why you took Friday and Monday off to begin w/!!!!
I'll spare you the gore but the cliff notes version is:I feel I'm getting taken for a mug,my boss is either clueless as to the day to day running of our department or is willing to let me do all the donkey work since evidently I'm expected to do it anyway and it was done by otherpeople while I was off...
But the piece de resistance I find out both my coworkers are taking off next Tuesday...the same day I have to leave early to take the bus to New York to run at Ichan,when I email my boss{we're back to not speaking a la the last three months off last year} I was informed she had no knowledge of both of them taking the day off{St Paddy's Day allover again}....sorry you run the department....how could you not know they both requested off......or is it a case of Eyore will do all the donkey work as usual,race or no race they can kiss my lillywhite Irish arse I 'm not busting a gut for these clowns.
Maybe that's why tonites 10 miler finished w/ a florish and a 63 minute time,nothing like some work related angst to get you fired up for a run.!!!
Tomorrow sees me return to the track for some repeats,having put down a base it's now time to work on my speed so for the first time since Feb 2nd it's into the "Death Zone"6x600m,it's gonna be a rude awakening but it has to be done.....who knows if work pisses me off again tomorrow{every chance of that I'd bet!!} I might be in rare form by the time I hit Franklin Field.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Gettin' Jiggy W/ It
Well I'm happy to report my nite at Atlantic City's House Of Blues was a rollockin' success,in the words of Derek Scully in "The Commitments" Flogging Molly were"fuckin' deadly" it was an awesome gig and well worth the trip to AC,5 hours on my feet,being w/in arms length of the mosh pit and NOT rollin' home till 3am.....needless to say I scheduled a day off from work today,I knew I'd be getting home at 3am and the prospect of the alarm going off at 4.51am wasn't filling me w/ glee!!
Given the 5 hours on my feet,the late hour I got home and the rain meant the prospect of my 10 miler at lunchtime was looking remote but after two hours of letting the engine tick over w/ coffee,oj and a few of my tv shows from last nite on my trusty dvr I was ready to face the run.
It would've been real easy to blow off today,I was toast to begin w/,the rain was coming down and would it be the end of the world if I took my rest day today?
There's talk of rain for a few days,if I took my rest day today I'd be SOL for the rest of the week,and as I enter phase two of my training for Nationals today was as good a day as any to invoke the time honoured mantra"it's getting out there on days like today that makes the difference between standing next to the podium at Nationals or standing on it"and come July 22nd and 25th I'll look back on today's leg weary rain sodden 10 miler as a defining moment.
I was slower than usual today,not that these runs are about time ever but all things considered 69 mins is hardly the end of the world,tomorrow rain permitting is another day and now if you'll excuse me I'm about to crash out.
Given the 5 hours on my feet,the late hour I got home and the rain meant the prospect of my 10 miler at lunchtime was looking remote but after two hours of letting the engine tick over w/ coffee,oj and a few of my tv shows from last nite on my trusty dvr I was ready to face the run.
It would've been real easy to blow off today,I was toast to begin w/,the rain was coming down and would it be the end of the world if I took my rest day today?
There's talk of rain for a few days,if I took my rest day today I'd be SOL for the rest of the week,and as I enter phase two of my training for Nationals today was as good a day as any to invoke the time honoured mantra"it's getting out there on days like today that makes the difference between standing next to the podium at Nationals or standing on it"and come July 22nd and 25th I'll look back on today's leg weary rain sodden 10 miler as a defining moment.
I was slower than usual today,not that these runs are about time ever but all things considered 69 mins is hardly the end of the world,tomorrow rain permitting is another day and now if you'll excuse me I'm about to crash out.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Grey Skies,But The Future Looks Bright.
Having spurned Wednesdays 10 miler due to the rain there was a sense of delicious irony that I managed to squeeze todays 10 miler in between showers.
60 miles for the week to round out 210 miles over the last four weeks and the end of indoor season,45,55,50,60.
Even though May doesn't begin till Saturday my schedule for May kicks off tomorrow,having put down a base of 210 miles over the last four weeks I now need to get some speed work in,as I've said b4 on my 10 mile runs I have time to"mentally write" my week to week schedule,the plan this week is 4x10 miles and 2 repeats,6x600m and 5x1,000m which would round me out at 50 miles for the week w/ some speed work.
Providing all the pieces fall into place I'm looking at the potential for:2x1,500m,2x3,000m,2x5,000m and 1x1mile between May 4th and June 22nd,all are equal components in my build up to Sacramento and Nationals,the 1,500m and 5,000m speak for themselves as they are the races I plan to run at Nationals and while I'm looking to lower my present pr's at 1,500m and 5,000m it's ditto for the 3,000m and the mile as both distances will aid and abet my 1,500m and 5,000m plans this summer at Nationals
Well I'm off to Atlantic City to get my jig on to Flogging Molly at the House Of Blues,it'll be a fun nite,if not a late nite,no worries I'm taking off from work tomorrow since I don't expect to get home much b4 3am.....surfice to say an easy 10 miler is on tap for tomorrow!
60 miles for the week to round out 210 miles over the last four weeks and the end of indoor season,45,55,50,60.
Even though May doesn't begin till Saturday my schedule for May kicks off tomorrow,having put down a base of 210 miles over the last four weeks I now need to get some speed work in,as I've said b4 on my 10 mile runs I have time to"mentally write" my week to week schedule,the plan this week is 4x10 miles and 2 repeats,6x600m and 5x1,000m which would round me out at 50 miles for the week w/ some speed work.
Providing all the pieces fall into place I'm looking at the potential for:2x1,500m,2x3,000m,2x5,000m and 1x1mile between May 4th and June 22nd,all are equal components in my build up to Sacramento and Nationals,the 1,500m and 5,000m speak for themselves as they are the races I plan to run at Nationals and while I'm looking to lower my present pr's at 1,500m and 5,000m it's ditto for the 3,000m and the mile as both distances will aid and abet my 1,500m and 5,000m plans this summer at Nationals
Well I'm off to Atlantic City to get my jig on to Flogging Molly at the House Of Blues,it'll be a fun nite,if not a late nite,no worries I'm taking off from work tomorrow since I don't expect to get home much b4 3am.....surfice to say an easy 10 miler is on tap for tomorrow!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Joel Dubow Can Kiss My Arse,Medal Podium At Penn Here At Last
"You cats keep beatin' up your chops I had better turn you over to the cops
I dig this spiel I'm going way on your gate don't cop your broom pop or buddy or mate
You run your mouth and I'll run my business brother,you run your mouth and I'll run my business brother
You tell everybody I'm busted,you talk so much you got me disgusted,you run your mouth and I'll run my business brother"
You Run Your Mouth{And I'll Run My Business} Joe Jackson
Remember that blog entry on April 12th I said I couldn't speak about?....well now I can....and will...and how....
Knowing I was only the alternate runner today and unless something dramatic unfolded I wasn't going to be running I went out this morning for my 10 miler,where as yesterday I felt a little leg weary this morning I felt a little heavy legged,and yet I clocked a 64 minute time,the moral of this tale just because you feel slow doesn't mean you're running slow.
Post run and shower I had time to check a few footie{soccer}scores as the regular season winds down to it's final two weeks b4 making my way to Franklin Field to meet up w/ the team....oh did I NOT mention b4 THE TEAM THAT WAS ORIGINALLY BARRED FROM THIS YEARS PENN RELAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rather than rehash all that I'm gonna post the link to Masterstrack blog http://masterstrackblog.com. when Ken Stone ran the story on Thursday if you scroll down from the top you can read the whole article,cliff notes version,Joel Dubow or as he shall be known from hence forth, Richard....oh let's skip formalities......DICK effectively tried to have us kept out of this years Penn Relays.....please feel free to read his 18 paragraph diatribe,frankly if that was him being concise I'd hate to have read a long rambling explanation!!!
A day later following what I'm lead to believe was a series of phone calls and emails he issued a retraction to this and the club was back in.
What is DICK'S problem w/ Greater Philadelphia Track Club?I'm not sure there's an answer to that,what I do know is nobody should have the right to block a club from entering Penn Relays or any track meet for that matter because they have a beef w/ them,much less abuse their position as president of Philly Masters Track Club who for some reason has a say on who runs Masters events at Penn Relays,I suspect we haven't heard the last of this story,just because we were allowed back into the event SHOULD NOT be the end of this saga,DICK tried to make life difficult for us last year and will probably try again next year unless he's either removed from the position of president of Philly Masters Track Club OR somebody other then DICK has control of the Masters events at next years Penn Relays.....................
Anyway enough politics come race time 9 of the 12 Masters 40-49 teams lined up, effectively the same team that won at Millrose minus substituting Bobby Mc w/ Dave{Tower Of Power}Brown.
Scott lead off,you'll have to forgive me for not getting the exact splits post race from Chuck but I'll post the link to the clubs homepage on Monday after webmaster Dave Thomas posts the story splits and all,we were 5th or 6th at the first exchange when Ray took the baton from Scott.
For years Ray was the only natural 400m guy on the 4x4 team,these days he has a little help.....
Showtime for the two Penn Relays rookies Dave and Nick....and what a show they put on!
W/in a couple of strides Dave took us from 6th to 3rd b4 the first turn and honestly from my vantage point in the upper level Tower Of Power was showing no signs of debut nerves as he ran a 53.9 leg after a pair of 55s from Scott and Ray,b4 the hand off to Nick.
You gotta love Nick,he not only ran a 1.58 800m at Drake Relays yesterday and won but he then anchored us today I think he ran a 52 second split as we held onto third and set a new club record of 3.36.5. taking 2 seconds off last years record 3.38.9.......not bad for a team that was BARRED from this years event 10 days b4 hand and notified by email the morning the final schedules were being set............................................................................................................................
So how do I feel missing out on all this?sure it was a new role to sit and watch as alternate and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be on the team,but as I've said time and time again I'm NOT a 400m guy,never was,when called upon I could run a decent 400m but I've know for a few years my time on the 4x4 was coming to end,a feeling Ray and Scott probably share as the elder statesmen of the 40s 4x4 we can look forward to joining Chuck on the 50s team in a few years....till Nick,Dave,Bobby Mc and Delvin turn 50 and oust us as they did in our 40s....the running version of the circle of life if you like!!
Glass half full by not making the 4x4 team this year I've been able to log 200 miles in the last four week{45,55,50,50 w/ another 10 on tap tomorrow}as I prep for the 5,000m and I wouldn't have the 5,000m and 10,000m club records had I been training for Penn,unless you're Barbie you can't have everything.
So DICK,how'd you like us now?the club you BARRED finished third....fancy that, a Philly club third at Penn Relays...................read em and weep sucker
I dig this spiel I'm going way on your gate don't cop your broom pop or buddy or mate
You run your mouth and I'll run my business brother,you run your mouth and I'll run my business brother
You tell everybody I'm busted,you talk so much you got me disgusted,you run your mouth and I'll run my business brother"
You Run Your Mouth{And I'll Run My Business} Joe Jackson
Remember that blog entry on April 12th I said I couldn't speak about?....well now I can....and will...and how....
Knowing I was only the alternate runner today and unless something dramatic unfolded I wasn't going to be running I went out this morning for my 10 miler,where as yesterday I felt a little leg weary this morning I felt a little heavy legged,and yet I clocked a 64 minute time,the moral of this tale just because you feel slow doesn't mean you're running slow.
Post run and shower I had time to check a few footie{soccer}scores as the regular season winds down to it's final two weeks b4 making my way to Franklin Field to meet up w/ the team....oh did I NOT mention b4 THE TEAM THAT WAS ORIGINALLY BARRED FROM THIS YEARS PENN RELAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rather than rehash all that I'm gonna post the link to Masterstrack blog http://masterstrackblog.com. when Ken Stone ran the story on Thursday if you scroll down from the top you can read the whole article,cliff notes version,Joel Dubow or as he shall be known from hence forth, Richard....oh let's skip formalities......DICK effectively tried to have us kept out of this years Penn Relays.....please feel free to read his 18 paragraph diatribe,frankly if that was him being concise I'd hate to have read a long rambling explanation!!!
A day later following what I'm lead to believe was a series of phone calls and emails he issued a retraction to this and the club was back in.
What is DICK'S problem w/ Greater Philadelphia Track Club?I'm not sure there's an answer to that,what I do know is nobody should have the right to block a club from entering Penn Relays or any track meet for that matter because they have a beef w/ them,much less abuse their position as president of Philly Masters Track Club who for some reason has a say on who runs Masters events at Penn Relays,I suspect we haven't heard the last of this story,just because we were allowed back into the event SHOULD NOT be the end of this saga,DICK tried to make life difficult for us last year and will probably try again next year unless he's either removed from the position of president of Philly Masters Track Club OR somebody other then DICK has control of the Masters events at next years Penn Relays.....................
Anyway enough politics come race time 9 of the 12 Masters 40-49 teams lined up, effectively the same team that won at Millrose minus substituting Bobby Mc w/ Dave{Tower Of Power}Brown.
Scott lead off,you'll have to forgive me for not getting the exact splits post race from Chuck but I'll post the link to the clubs homepage on Monday after webmaster Dave Thomas posts the story splits and all,we were 5th or 6th at the first exchange when Ray took the baton from Scott.
For years Ray was the only natural 400m guy on the 4x4 team,these days he has a little help.....
Showtime for the two Penn Relays rookies Dave and Nick....and what a show they put on!
W/in a couple of strides Dave took us from 6th to 3rd b4 the first turn and honestly from my vantage point in the upper level Tower Of Power was showing no signs of debut nerves as he ran a 53.9 leg after a pair of 55s from Scott and Ray,b4 the hand off to Nick.
You gotta love Nick,he not only ran a 1.58 800m at Drake Relays yesterday and won but he then anchored us today I think he ran a 52 second split as we held onto third and set a new club record of 3.36.5. taking 2 seconds off last years record 3.38.9.......not bad for a team that was BARRED from this years event 10 days b4 hand and notified by email the morning the final schedules were being set............................................................................................................................
So how do I feel missing out on all this?sure it was a new role to sit and watch as alternate and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be on the team,but as I've said time and time again I'm NOT a 400m guy,never was,when called upon I could run a decent 400m but I've know for a few years my time on the 4x4 was coming to end,a feeling Ray and Scott probably share as the elder statesmen of the 40s 4x4 we can look forward to joining Chuck on the 50s team in a few years....till Nick,Dave,Bobby Mc and Delvin turn 50 and oust us as they did in our 40s....the running version of the circle of life if you like!!
Glass half full by not making the 4x4 team this year I've been able to log 200 miles in the last four week{45,55,50,50 w/ another 10 on tap tomorrow}as I prep for the 5,000m and I wouldn't have the 5,000m and 10,000m club records had I been training for Penn,unless you're Barbie you can't have everything.
So DICK,how'd you like us now?the club you BARRED finished third....fancy that, a Philly club third at Penn Relays...................read em and weep sucker
Friday, April 23, 2010
Nooner
................Well I'm sure I've gotten ever ones attention now..............I refer to my 10 mile run being conducted at noon......minds out of the gutter people!!!
When I set my schedule a few weeks back the plan was Olympic Development 5,000m Thursday,Friday off work,10 miler mid morning/lunchtime and then down to Franklin Field to watch my team mates and friends compete at Penn Relays.....the best laid plans.....and this may well be the last blog entry to contain the words nooner and laid!!!!
As you all know the Olympic Development 5,000m didn't happen and nor did the afternoon at Franklin Field.
Seems they've gotten strict w/ the athletes passes,used to be a time a two day pass for Friday and Saturday would get issued for both days....not anymore,Friday passes,Saturday passes only now AND they've gotten stingy w/ them only 5 passes per team not 6 like it used to be so no extra pass for yours truly and given my present fiscal plight dropping $16 for a ticket wasn't an option,more of that in a moment.
Out for my run just after 12pm,felt a little weird to be running at lunchtime on a weekday but I did what I had to do to notch 10 miler#4 for the week.
Not sure if it was running earlier,the difference in the temperature or what but I was a little leg weary today,had I not invoked a rest day Wednesday I could've understood that but said rest day should've helped.
I wasn't off my mark by much,67 mins compared to the usual 65,chalk it up as one of those days,hopefully after today's visit to my bank my day to day living will run a little smoother.
W/out divulging too much personal information I've been experiencing fiscal concerns for almost 2 months now,I kept believing I could resolve the matter by myself,instead I found myself spiraling deeper and deeper into debt,hence the lack of $16 for a ticket for Penn Relays today.
Mercifully my bank was very understanding of my plight and as of my next pay cheque I should be back to paying all my rent,my bills and not doing my food shopping at the dollar store,believe me logging 45,50,55,60 mile weeks off of less than proper nutrition has not been easy but w/ that behind me I can look forward to my remaining two 10 milers tomorrow and Sunday and moving onto the next phase of my training programme.
When I set my schedule a few weeks back the plan was Olympic Development 5,000m Thursday,Friday off work,10 miler mid morning/lunchtime and then down to Franklin Field to watch my team mates and friends compete at Penn Relays.....the best laid plans.....and this may well be the last blog entry to contain the words nooner and laid!!!!
As you all know the Olympic Development 5,000m didn't happen and nor did the afternoon at Franklin Field.
Seems they've gotten strict w/ the athletes passes,used to be a time a two day pass for Friday and Saturday would get issued for both days....not anymore,Friday passes,Saturday passes only now AND they've gotten stingy w/ them only 5 passes per team not 6 like it used to be so no extra pass for yours truly and given my present fiscal plight dropping $16 for a ticket wasn't an option,more of that in a moment.
Out for my run just after 12pm,felt a little weird to be running at lunchtime on a weekday but I did what I had to do to notch 10 miler#4 for the week.
Not sure if it was running earlier,the difference in the temperature or what but I was a little leg weary today,had I not invoked a rest day Wednesday I could've understood that but said rest day should've helped.
I wasn't off my mark by much,67 mins compared to the usual 65,chalk it up as one of those days,hopefully after today's visit to my bank my day to day living will run a little smoother.
W/out divulging too much personal information I've been experiencing fiscal concerns for almost 2 months now,I kept believing I could resolve the matter by myself,instead I found myself spiraling deeper and deeper into debt,hence the lack of $16 for a ticket for Penn Relays today.
Mercifully my bank was very understanding of my plight and as of my next pay cheque I should be back to paying all my rent,my bills and not doing my food shopping at the dollar store,believe me logging 45,50,55,60 mile weeks off of less than proper nutrition has not been easy but w/ that behind me I can look forward to my remaining two 10 milers tomorrow and Sunday and moving onto the next phase of my training programme.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
On Outside Looking In
Thanks to the Penn Relays this weekend I was only looking at a 4 day work week,which given the week I've been having is probably just as well.
After yesterdays rain out I was happy to be back out on the extended extended out and back along Cobbs Creek Parkway for my 10 miler,roughly 65 minutes,par for the course.
Following a quick shower and grabbing dinner to go I walked down to Franklin Field for the time honoured tradition that is Distance Night at Penn Relays.
This was my 5th year coming to Distance Night, a series of 3,000m,3,000m steeplechase,5,000m and 10,000m races although in fairness I've never stuck around for the 10,000m races and even w/ tomorrow off from work I didn't stick around this year either....one of these years I will.
Obviously the race that held my attention was the Olympic Development 5,000m,I always felt my chances of getting in were slim to none and when the race gets won in 14.02.is it any wonder?
The last place runner crossed the line in 15.41. which is still faster than my current pr of 15.57. but given my pr came almost 5 years since my previous 5,000m race and after only 6 weeks of 5,000m training I have to hope a year from now I'm a more legitimate 5,000m runner w/ a more legitimate 5,000m pr,who knows maybe next year I'll actually get to run at Distance Night period but at 47,now that'd be something wouldn't it??
After yesterdays rain out I was happy to be back out on the extended extended out and back along Cobbs Creek Parkway for my 10 miler,roughly 65 minutes,par for the course.
Following a quick shower and grabbing dinner to go I walked down to Franklin Field for the time honoured tradition that is Distance Night at Penn Relays.
This was my 5th year coming to Distance Night, a series of 3,000m,3,000m steeplechase,5,000m and 10,000m races although in fairness I've never stuck around for the 10,000m races and even w/ tomorrow off from work I didn't stick around this year either....one of these years I will.
Obviously the race that held my attention was the Olympic Development 5,000m,I always felt my chances of getting in were slim to none and when the race gets won in 14.02.is it any wonder?
The last place runner crossed the line in 15.41. which is still faster than my current pr of 15.57. but given my pr came almost 5 years since my previous 5,000m race and after only 6 weeks of 5,000m training I have to hope a year from now I'm a more legitimate 5,000m runner w/ a more legitimate 5,000m pr,who knows maybe next year I'll actually get to run at Distance Night period but at 47,now that'd be something wouldn't it??
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Paddy Public Enemy #1 Again
It's been a while since I've felt this way but the truth of the matter is today felt like Groundhog Day,I'm still getting the silent treatment from my co worker,still getting the cold shoulder from my boss and still dealing w/ ejits and gobshites.....seriously if you're coming towards me and you see the electric jack and a small stack of skids....WHY would you attempt to come through the doors??? much less try to cop a plea from the people who witnessed it????but oh I'm in the wrong as usual eh?
I'm amazed how three guys could stand there in the middle of a full blown bs session and ignore a guy standing next to them who clearly needed to be acknowledged....his crime?needing to pointed in the direction of the Maint office......and TRUST me having to listen to these three prats their conversation was NOT that important!!! and HOW is it that my favourite moron"Three Dollar Bill"{YES I know picking on him is like shooting fish in a barrel but it can't be helped}can act like he doesn't see the bloke and yet yesterday while I'm trying to eat lunch in the office he calls me out onto the dock to answer a question................"where can this women leave some empty boxes".............I kid you not,I had to stop what I was doing to deal w/ that....
The weather got the upper hand today,my 10 miler got rained out,not the end of the world,the fact I came home and took a two hour cat nap tells me I needed the rest,I'd rather rest and be fresh for the next four days worth 10 milers than run for the sake of avoiding a Sunday 10 miler,when life gives you Lemons....and I DON'T mean the ones I have to work w/!!!!
I'm amazed how three guys could stand there in the middle of a full blown bs session and ignore a guy standing next to them who clearly needed to be acknowledged....his crime?needing to pointed in the direction of the Maint office......and TRUST me having to listen to these three prats their conversation was NOT that important!!! and HOW is it that my favourite moron"Three Dollar Bill"{YES I know picking on him is like shooting fish in a barrel but it can't be helped}can act like he doesn't see the bloke and yet yesterday while I'm trying to eat lunch in the office he calls me out onto the dock to answer a question................"where can this women leave some empty boxes".............I kid you not,I had to stop what I was doing to deal w/ that....
The weather got the upper hand today,my 10 miler got rained out,not the end of the world,the fact I came home and took a two hour cat nap tells me I needed the rest,I'd rather rest and be fresh for the next four days worth 10 milers than run for the sake of avoiding a Sunday 10 miler,when life gives you Lemons....and I DON'T mean the ones I have to work w/!!!!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Eye Heart Amelia Pond
Jaysus,it's only Tuesday and I've already got half a dozen nominations for my Work WTF nomination,and I'm only working four days this week.............
Needless to say this evenings 10 mile was right on time,nothing like a run to melt away the silent treatment your getting from your co worker,the cold shoulder you're getting from your boss,the frustration you feel when you're the only one concerned about getting the work done when the masses are preoccupied w/ a lunchtime party for someone who's getting married,it should be pointed out the person getting married is a supervisor.....you don't think a fuss would be made if one of the worker bees was getting hitched do you?
Now that I've pissed and moaned and hopefully gotten it out of my system I can return to work tomorrow w/ a positive attitude.....how long it'll last is any ones guess.....and that's when my screen saver will come into play....
Lost in the shuffle of the last couple of days was the launch of the new season of Doctor Who,now b4 anyone accuses me of being a closet sci fi geek I'm not,you won't find any photos of me at a Star Trek Convention or dressed as a Star Wars character on Halloween and truth be told I wasn't a major Doctor Who fan back in the day but when they revived the show in 05 it took on a whole new life only for David Tennant to take over the role w/in a year a kick it up a notch.
After 4 years David Tennant stepped down from the role and I won't lie I shed a tear in the final episode on New Years Day when he regenerated and newcomer Matt Smith took over as the last of the time lords/time travelling Doctor.
For every Doctor there's an assistant,having being infatuated by Billie Piper as Rose Tyler and Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones I am now in love w/ Karen Gillan as Amy Pond.
Is it those doe eyes,perhaps,could it be that amazing feisty temper she has,could be,the incredibly short skirt she wore in the first episode helped{she looked like a women police officer when in fact she was a Kiss O Gram.....she could've arrested me ANY TIME ....maybe that comment could've been reserved for my diary but hey I've probably lost a ton of cool points w/ this entry anyway so what do I care!!}
What really won me over w/ Amy Pond?that mass of red hair,gets me every time,must be my Paddy dna,I'm telling ya the reason God created red headed women...so Irishmen wouldn't rule the universe!!!
See I'm ten times happier than I was earlier....and a rerun of the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who just came on....happy trails from one time lord to another
Needless to say this evenings 10 mile was right on time,nothing like a run to melt away the silent treatment your getting from your co worker,the cold shoulder you're getting from your boss,the frustration you feel when you're the only one concerned about getting the work done when the masses are preoccupied w/ a lunchtime party for someone who's getting married,it should be pointed out the person getting married is a supervisor.....you don't think a fuss would be made if one of the worker bees was getting hitched do you?
Now that I've pissed and moaned and hopefully gotten it out of my system I can return to work tomorrow w/ a positive attitude.....how long it'll last is any ones guess.....and that's when my screen saver will come into play....
Lost in the shuffle of the last couple of days was the launch of the new season of Doctor Who,now b4 anyone accuses me of being a closet sci fi geek I'm not,you won't find any photos of me at a Star Trek Convention or dressed as a Star Wars character on Halloween and truth be told I wasn't a major Doctor Who fan back in the day but when they revived the show in 05 it took on a whole new life only for David Tennant to take over the role w/in a year a kick it up a notch.
After 4 years David Tennant stepped down from the role and I won't lie I shed a tear in the final episode on New Years Day when he regenerated and newcomer Matt Smith took over as the last of the time lords/time travelling Doctor.
For every Doctor there's an assistant,having being infatuated by Billie Piper as Rose Tyler and Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones I am now in love w/ Karen Gillan as Amy Pond.
Is it those doe eyes,perhaps,could it be that amazing feisty temper she has,could be,the incredibly short skirt she wore in the first episode helped{she looked like a women police officer when in fact she was a Kiss O Gram.....she could've arrested me ANY TIME ....maybe that comment could've been reserved for my diary but hey I've probably lost a ton of cool points w/ this entry anyway so what do I care!!}
What really won me over w/ Amy Pond?that mass of red hair,gets me every time,must be my Paddy dna,I'm telling ya the reason God created red headed women...so Irishmen wouldn't rule the universe!!!
See I'm ten times happier than I was earlier....and a rerun of the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who just came on....happy trails from one time lord to another
Monday, April 19, 2010
Not The Week I'm Used To
Over the years the week has meant something special in 91,02 and 05 I ran the Boston Marathon and notched sub 3 hour marathons in all three making up 3 of the 8 sub 3 hour marathons in my 14 marathons over 20 years
For the past four years I've ran in the Penn Relays Masters 4x400m relay,but not this year.
I said all along at Penn and Millrose I'm not a 400m runner,but I could run a decent 400m when needed,but for the past two years I've been waiting for the other{running}shoe to drop.....this year it did,the writing was on the wall when I failed to make the Millrose team,only to sneak in on a b team{and medal.....whee!!!}and this year for Penn I could only muster the 6th fastest time which is only good enough to make me an alternate this year....and that's ok.
While I didn't make the Olympic Development 5,000m which is a disappointment I feel my Penn Relays story is far from over,I'm gonna work my tail off to get in to next years OD 5,000m{at 47 that'll be a fate acompli}and I do believe once I turn 50 I'll be on the 50s 4x400m Relay for a few years....till the guys squeezing me out of 40 4x400 turn 50 and squeeze me out again!!!
This week the schedule is 6x10 miles,obviously access to Franklin Field isn't happening and since I'm the alternate on Saturday for the 4x4 I can't trek out to Lower Merion to knock out a 5x1,000m so I figured another week of building my base mileage will surfice.
Tonite's 10 miler was nice and easy,I reaped the benefit of a rest day yesterday and will look to tweak the next couple of days,start hard,ease up,start easy ramp it up,a few long surges, and an all out hard 10 mile b4 an easy 10 miler to round out the week.
For the past four years I've ran in the Penn Relays Masters 4x400m relay,but not this year.
I said all along at Penn and Millrose I'm not a 400m runner,but I could run a decent 400m when needed,but for the past two years I've been waiting for the other{running}shoe to drop.....this year it did,the writing was on the wall when I failed to make the Millrose team,only to sneak in on a b team{and medal.....whee!!!}and this year for Penn I could only muster the 6th fastest time which is only good enough to make me an alternate this year....and that's ok.
While I didn't make the Olympic Development 5,000m which is a disappointment I feel my Penn Relays story is far from over,I'm gonna work my tail off to get in to next years OD 5,000m{at 47 that'll be a fate acompli}and I do believe once I turn 50 I'll be on the 50s 4x400m Relay for a few years....till the guys squeezing me out of 40 4x400 turn 50 and squeeze me out again!!!
This week the schedule is 6x10 miles,obviously access to Franklin Field isn't happening and since I'm the alternate on Saturday for the 4x4 I can't trek out to Lower Merion to knock out a 5x1,000m so I figured another week of building my base mileage will surfice.
Tonite's 10 miler was nice and easy,I reaped the benefit of a rest day yesterday and will look to tweak the next couple of days,start hard,ease up,start easy ramp it up,a few long surges, and an all out hard 10 mile b4 an easy 10 miler to round out the week.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
TC's PR's
Given my recent spate of pr's/club records I thought it time to commit all my pr's track,road,cross country to the blog period but given today was a rest day and nothing else was going on other than me checking that my mother and I were still on speaking terms given Spurs 2.1 win over Chelski yesterday there was little to report....we are still speaking by the way!!!!
Track PR's
400m 53.6-09
800m 1.59.1-07
1,500m 4.07.4-09
mile 4.28.9-09
3,000m 9.11.4-10
2 miles 10.05.5-10
5,000m 15.57.7-10
10,000m 34.44.3-10
Road PR's
mile 4.12-08
5k 16.44-90
5k masters 17.09-07
4miles 22.40-05
5miles 27.31.2-04
8k 27.13.9-03
10k 34.53-84
10k masters 35.11-04
12k 46.43-91
15k 53.30.8-04
20k 1.14.1-06
25k 1.31.5-04
8miles 48.04-03
10 miles 57.59.1-06
Half Marathon 1.18.0-06
Marathon 2.48.5-02
Marathon masters 2.52.4-04
Cross Country
3mile xc 16.45.7-08
5kxc 17.11.8-08
6kxc 20.12.9-08
4mile xc 24.55.2-07
8kxc 28.16.6-08
5mile xc 29.57.2-08
Track PR's
400m 53.6-09
800m 1.59.1-07
1,500m 4.07.4-09
mile 4.28.9-09
3,000m 9.11.4-10
2 miles 10.05.5-10
5,000m 15.57.7-10
10,000m 34.44.3-10
Road PR's
mile 4.12-08
5k 16.44-90
5k masters 17.09-07
4miles 22.40-05
5miles 27.31.2-04
8k 27.13.9-03
10k 34.53-84
10k masters 35.11-04
12k 46.43-91
15k 53.30.8-04
20k 1.14.1-06
25k 1.31.5-04
8miles 48.04-03
10 miles 57.59.1-06
Half Marathon 1.18.0-06
Marathon 2.48.5-02
Marathon masters 2.52.4-04
Cross Country
3mile xc 16.45.7-08
5kxc 17.11.8-08
6kxc 20.12.9-08
4mile xc 24.55.2-07
8kxc 28.16.6-08
5mile xc 29.57.2-08
Saturday, April 17, 2010
After The Flood
Never one to rest on my laurals I was out by 11.30am to take care of my 10 miler to round out my weekly mileage at 50 miles for the week.
While tomorrow is a rest day in terms of training it's hardly a rest day as I have a list of domestic chores to take care of,running god becomes domestic god I guess??
The official results from last nite are up,11th out of 17 runners{1 dnf} in 34.44.36. to put that in perspective that would've gotten me 8th place at Worlds last summer and 4th overall at Nationals but 1st in the 45-49 age group....not too shabby for my first 10,000m in 23 years!!!
I don't see becoming a habitual 10,000m runner,there's a reason why I hadn't ran one in 23 years,why no one from the club had ever ran one and also why these days at Olympic and World Championship level the 10,000m is a straight final compared to semis and final like it was back a few years ago,trust me 25 laps is a lot!!
As for my 10,000m future?I doubt there'll be another one this year,next year either Outdoor Nationals or at Haywards Fields,as for my 10k road plans?post Nationals,5th Avenue Mile and Masters 5k Road,who knows my 1984 34.53 pr is my longest standing pr and I'd like to see that go based on the evidence of last nite that's a possibility,but that said that's for another day I need to focus on next week now.
While tomorrow is a rest day in terms of training it's hardly a rest day as I have a list of domestic chores to take care of,running god becomes domestic god I guess??
The official results from last nite are up,11th out of 17 runners{1 dnf} in 34.44.36. to put that in perspective that would've gotten me 8th place at Worlds last summer and 4th overall at Nationals but 1st in the 45-49 age group....not too shabby for my first 10,000m in 23 years!!!
I don't see becoming a habitual 10,000m runner,there's a reason why I hadn't ran one in 23 years,why no one from the club had ever ran one and also why these days at Olympic and World Championship level the 10,000m is a straight final compared to semis and final like it was back a few years ago,trust me 25 laps is a lot!!
As for my 10,000m future?I doubt there'll be another one this year,next year either Outdoor Nationals or at Haywards Fields,as for my 10k road plans?post Nationals,5th Avenue Mile and Masters 5k Road,who knows my 1984 34.53 pr is my longest standing pr and I'd like to see that go based on the evidence of last nite that's a possibility,but that said that's for another day I need to focus on next week now.
Friday, April 16, 2010
4 Club Records In 41 Days
In 1978 Henry Rono set/broke 4 world records in the space of 81 days,not for one second do I think my 4 club records in 41 days compares to that but it's a point of reference,and b4 anyone says"look what happened to him afterwards"I will state for the record that as of Feb 14th I was celebrating 21 and a 1/2 years of being sober and from what I gather Henry Rono has been sober for a few years also,God willing all of us recovering alcoholics get another day.
My 10,000m history is a brief one,one race ever back in London in 1987 40.41....hardly earth shattering.
Unlike my 3,000m,2 miles and 5,000m records where I had to brake a previous record there was no club record for 10,000m,all I had to do was finish,that said the prospect of running 25 laps was a little daunting but just as I didn't get caught up in counting the laps down in my 5,000m race two weeks ago I knew tonite I couldn't do that either.
There was talk of rain and thunder storms this evening and not long after arriving at Widener University the rain began,it eased off only to begin again during the second of the three 5,000m races,I hummed and hared about shedding my glasses b4 the race in case the heavens opened again and made visibility difficult.
Seeded 8th of 18 runners I toed the start line at 7pm under a mixture of daylight and floodlights,conditions were cool and comfortable,ideal for a 10,000m.
I was caught off guard by the starter,normally the command is"on your marks,get set" and the gun tonite we got "on your marks ....and the gun and my reaction wasn't as good as it could be the 10 runners on my outside soon collapsed into the inside lanes,I got boxed on the rail going into the turn and didn't get out until coming up the home straight by which time the lead pack of eight had gotten away from me,amazing I was in "no mans land" after a lap....w/ 24 more to go!
I believe my opening lap was 79 seconds and my opening mile was 5.20.
Obviously over 25 laps it's hard to recall lap splits,mile splits when I got over taken, I was more focused on my form as I continued to clip off laps at a reasonable pace.
While I stuck to my guns in not counting off each lap I was delighted to reach 9 laps to go and get into single digits,by now it was dark and the race had a European track meet feel to it under the floodlights.
W/ four laps to go the heavens opened,actually I was glad for the cooling rain,I'd rather it rain w/ four laps to go than say four laps into the race,one drawback was I couldn't see through my glasses so coming through the finish line I couldn't read the clock but my friend and team mate Neil was pacing the infield yelling encouragement and telling me a sub 35 was there for the taking,my 10k road pr is 34.53 my masters pr is 35.11......
W/ 700m to go I began to wind it up,I've no idea what my time at the bell was but remarkably w/ 300m to go I launched into a furious kick,it's not like I had anyone in front of me to catch or anyone breathing down my neck it's just instinct,be it 800m,1,500m,3,000m or 5,000m when it's time to kick I'm like Shane Richie covering a Wham classic"baby I'm your man"!!!
34.43.10 seconds faster than my 10k road pr from 1984 but also 5.58. faster than my pr from 1987 and club record #4 since March 6th.
I don't see alot of 10,000m races in my future,granted I doubt it'll be 23 years b4 I run my next one but there's a reason why it's not ran often and why there wasn't a previous club record for it,I'm still awaiting for the official result,I think I finished 12th out of 18 runners.
Next race I'm dropping down to 1,500m which will feel like a sprint after my recent 5,000m and 10,000m races.
My 10,000m history is a brief one,one race ever back in London in 1987 40.41....hardly earth shattering.
Unlike my 3,000m,2 miles and 5,000m records where I had to brake a previous record there was no club record for 10,000m,all I had to do was finish,that said the prospect of running 25 laps was a little daunting but just as I didn't get caught up in counting the laps down in my 5,000m race two weeks ago I knew tonite I couldn't do that either.
There was talk of rain and thunder storms this evening and not long after arriving at Widener University the rain began,it eased off only to begin again during the second of the three 5,000m races,I hummed and hared about shedding my glasses b4 the race in case the heavens opened again and made visibility difficult.
Seeded 8th of 18 runners I toed the start line at 7pm under a mixture of daylight and floodlights,conditions were cool and comfortable,ideal for a 10,000m.
I was caught off guard by the starter,normally the command is"on your marks,get set" and the gun tonite we got "on your marks ....and the gun and my reaction wasn't as good as it could be the 10 runners on my outside soon collapsed into the inside lanes,I got boxed on the rail going into the turn and didn't get out until coming up the home straight by which time the lead pack of eight had gotten away from me,amazing I was in "no mans land" after a lap....w/ 24 more to go!
I believe my opening lap was 79 seconds and my opening mile was 5.20.
Obviously over 25 laps it's hard to recall lap splits,mile splits when I got over taken, I was more focused on my form as I continued to clip off laps at a reasonable pace.
While I stuck to my guns in not counting off each lap I was delighted to reach 9 laps to go and get into single digits,by now it was dark and the race had a European track meet feel to it under the floodlights.
W/ four laps to go the heavens opened,actually I was glad for the cooling rain,I'd rather it rain w/ four laps to go than say four laps into the race,one drawback was I couldn't see through my glasses so coming through the finish line I couldn't read the clock but my friend and team mate Neil was pacing the infield yelling encouragement and telling me a sub 35 was there for the taking,my 10k road pr is 34.53 my masters pr is 35.11......
W/ 700m to go I began to wind it up,I've no idea what my time at the bell was but remarkably w/ 300m to go I launched into a furious kick,it's not like I had anyone in front of me to catch or anyone breathing down my neck it's just instinct,be it 800m,1,500m,3,000m or 5,000m when it's time to kick I'm like Shane Richie covering a Wham classic"baby I'm your man"!!!
34.43.10 seconds faster than my 10k road pr from 1984 but also 5.58. faster than my pr from 1987 and club record #4 since March 6th.
I don't see alot of 10,000m races in my future,granted I doubt it'll be 23 years b4 I run my next one but there's a reason why it's not ran often and why there wasn't a previous club record for it,I'm still awaiting for the official result,I think I finished 12th out of 18 runners.
Next race I'm dropping down to 1,500m which will feel like a sprint after my recent 5,000m and 10,000m races.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The Calm B4 The Storm
W/ a 10,000m on tap tomorrow{thunderstorms permitting} Easy Tiger was the mindset on my out and back 6 miler along Cobbs Creek Parkway,a gentile 53 minute run compared to the 40 mins it normally takes me.
I'm looking forward to putting the unsavoury events of earlier in the week well and truly behind me tomorrow and getting back to focusing on running.
Taking a leaf out of Nyflygirls great blog Training Hard Hardly Training here's my WTF Work story for the week,it happened Monday but obviously there have been other matters at hand to deal w/ till now....
I hate fake people, one of the great life lessons my dad taught me was"if you can't be yourself,don't be anyone"a credo I have lived by most of my life,w/ me what you see is what you get I'd rather be me and people not like me than be someone I'm not and people thinking I'm wonderful.
In work as in w/ relationships,family and as I discovered this week even w/in a running club there will be disagreements,that's fair enough what I hate is someone acting like a three dollar bill.
A difference of opinion broke out between two co workers,it happens we don't have to be bosom buddies,hang out w/out one another outside of the work place,but we should respect one another....
The first protagonist in the disagreement got off the elevator,my coworker starts his patented "charm the knickers off of a nun" routine w/ her she exits stage left,the other protagonist in the verbal altercation gets off the elevator the same co worker who two minutes earlier is kissing up to worker A begins a 360 degree turnaround"she's got issues,she isn't gonna make down there w/ you guys.she this,she that".....................where was this attitude when you were talking to her prior to her walking away?????
I can't stand fake arse three dollar bills period,say what you mean,mean what you say,I stand by all my comments this week on the issue I'm still not allowed to openly discuss,did I make some enemies w/ my club by my comments?probably,will I retract what I said?no people don't have to agree w/ what I said or like it but the bottom line is our club was under attack and this was a time to band together not duck out of the situation and look to fly under the radar to protect their own agendas,remember unless you're dyslexic"there is no I in team"
I'm looking forward to putting the unsavoury events of earlier in the week well and truly behind me tomorrow and getting back to focusing on running.
Taking a leaf out of Nyflygirls great blog Training Hard Hardly Training here's my WTF Work story for the week,it happened Monday but obviously there have been other matters at hand to deal w/ till now....
I hate fake people, one of the great life lessons my dad taught me was"if you can't be yourself,don't be anyone"a credo I have lived by most of my life,w/ me what you see is what you get I'd rather be me and people not like me than be someone I'm not and people thinking I'm wonderful.
In work as in w/ relationships,family and as I discovered this week even w/in a running club there will be disagreements,that's fair enough what I hate is someone acting like a three dollar bill.
A difference of opinion broke out between two co workers,it happens we don't have to be bosom buddies,hang out w/out one another outside of the work place,but we should respect one another....
The first protagonist in the disagreement got off the elevator,my coworker starts his patented "charm the knickers off of a nun" routine w/ her she exits stage left,the other protagonist in the verbal altercation gets off the elevator the same co worker who two minutes earlier is kissing up to worker A begins a 360 degree turnaround"she's got issues,she isn't gonna make down there w/ you guys.she this,she that".....................where was this attitude when you were talking to her prior to her walking away?????
I can't stand fake arse three dollar bills period,say what you mean,mean what you say,I stand by all my comments this week on the issue I'm still not allowed to openly discuss,did I make some enemies w/ my club by my comments?probably,will I retract what I said?no people don't have to agree w/ what I said or like it but the bottom line is our club was under attack and this was a time to band together not duck out of the situation and look to fly under the radar to protect their own agendas,remember unless you're dyslexic"there is no I in team"
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Gonna Party Like It's 1999
Spurs 2 arsenal 1 oh how SWEET it is,not since Nov 7th 1999 had we beaten our cross town rivals in the Premiership,if they have Sky Sports in heaven the ould fella will be celebrating tonite that's for sure!!!
Following the game it was off out for my 8 miler,w/ my 10,000m race two days away it was prudent to take my foot off the gas a little tonite judging from the fact it took me an hour to run 8 miles tonite and 57 minutes to run 9 miles last nite I'd say mission accomplished!!!
I won't be running the Olympic Development 5,000m next Thursday after all,I didn't make the cut,I'm disappointed obviously but in reality I may've been swimming against the tide w/ only 0ne 5,000m race under my belt,hopefully between now and next year w/ weekly mileage between 40 and 55 miles a week I'll be in a better position to qualify for it.
The change in plan means next weeks schedule has been altered and so to has my May race schedule as I've added a 5,000m at nearby Swarthmore on May 10th sandwiched in between a 1,500m and 3,000m at Ichan Stadium in New York on the 4th and 18th
Following the game it was off out for my 8 miler,w/ my 10,000m race two days away it was prudent to take my foot off the gas a little tonite judging from the fact it took me an hour to run 8 miles tonite and 57 minutes to run 9 miles last nite I'd say mission accomplished!!!
I won't be running the Olympic Development 5,000m next Thursday after all,I didn't make the cut,I'm disappointed obviously but in reality I may've been swimming against the tide w/ only 0ne 5,000m race under my belt,hopefully between now and next year w/ weekly mileage between 40 and 55 miles a week I'll be in a better position to qualify for it.
The change in plan means next weeks schedule has been altered and so to has my May race schedule as I've added a 5,000m at nearby Swarthmore on May 10th sandwiched in between a 1,500m and 3,000m at Ichan Stadium in New York on the 4th and 18th
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Keepin' A Lid On It.....For Now
Once again I've been asked to refrain from speaking up,speaking out on the ongoing situation that is swirling around me right now.
Because I respect the people who have asked me to bite my tongue I will,but I have been told there will come a time when I can say my piece on all this and oh believe me I will!!!,till then......
One plus of all this bollocks I ran a spirited 57 minute 9 miler this evening,last nite over the very same course I ran it in 62 minutes....you tell me a fire under your arse won't shave minutes off a training run!!!! and this included having some "ankle biter" trying to get under my feet coming out of the park on the outbound section of my run.
In spite of the grey skies and omnipresent threat of rain I was always going to run this evening,if you knew what's been going on for the past day and a half{and you will!!}you'd understand why I ran this evening and why I ran so fast!
Tonite was my last nite to go"buck wild" b4 Friday's 10,000m at Widener,tomorrow's 8 miler and obviously Thursdays 6 miler will be ran at a more sedate pace.
Today would've been my father Kevin's 77th b'day,he'd have enjoyed the passion and commitment of my run this evening,Kevin was my first "coach" and boy did he do a job grooming me,2nd to Kevin might as well have been 2nd last and he drilled that into me every race,I recall an upcoming 800m race back home in 78/79 that I was concerned about,my problem was I was too old for the younger age group and subsequently younger than the older guys in my age group as I fretted about this out loud Kevin in his own unique way said"don't worry we'll give them a run for their money" "we???"I responded somewhat indignantly at the insinuation "the ould fella" was going to run the race w/ me....and then the master stroke by the master technician"we'll if you're too chicken don't bother to run it" he said.....knowing damn well he'd lit a three alarm fire beneath my jacksee.....5 days later I was the Lewisham Parks 800m champion and it's those memories I Cherish almost 25 since he died.
At the time I resented his"win or don't come home"style but years later I grew to appreciate what he did for me,back then it was a fear of losing,now it's an overwhelming drive to win,and yeah there was an element of Peter and Seb Coe w/ Kevin and I but look at what those guys did through Seb's glorious career?
Because I respect the people who have asked me to bite my tongue I will,but I have been told there will come a time when I can say my piece on all this and oh believe me I will!!!,till then......
One plus of all this bollocks I ran a spirited 57 minute 9 miler this evening,last nite over the very same course I ran it in 62 minutes....you tell me a fire under your arse won't shave minutes off a training run!!!! and this included having some "ankle biter" trying to get under my feet coming out of the park on the outbound section of my run.
In spite of the grey skies and omnipresent threat of rain I was always going to run this evening,if you knew what's been going on for the past day and a half{and you will!!}you'd understand why I ran this evening and why I ran so fast!
Tonite was my last nite to go"buck wild" b4 Friday's 10,000m at Widener,tomorrow's 8 miler and obviously Thursdays 6 miler will be ran at a more sedate pace.
Today would've been my father Kevin's 77th b'day,he'd have enjoyed the passion and commitment of my run this evening,Kevin was my first "coach" and boy did he do a job grooming me,2nd to Kevin might as well have been 2nd last and he drilled that into me every race,I recall an upcoming 800m race back home in 78/79 that I was concerned about,my problem was I was too old for the younger age group and subsequently younger than the older guys in my age group as I fretted about this out loud Kevin in his own unique way said"don't worry we'll give them a run for their money" "we???"I responded somewhat indignantly at the insinuation "the ould fella" was going to run the race w/ me....and then the master stroke by the master technician"we'll if you're too chicken don't bother to run it" he said.....knowing damn well he'd lit a three alarm fire beneath my jacksee.....5 days later I was the Lewisham Parks 800m champion and it's those memories I Cherish almost 25 since he died.
At the time I resented his"win or don't come home"style but years later I grew to appreciate what he did for me,back then it was a fear of losing,now it's an overwhelming drive to win,and yeah there was an element of Peter and Seb Coe w/ Kevin and I but look at what those guys did through Seb's glorious career?
Monday, April 12, 2010
The Gospel According To Harold Shand
"For more than ten years there's been peace,everyone to his own patch.
We've all had it sweet,I've done every single one of you favours in the past,I've put money in all your pockets.
I've treated you all well,even when you was out of order right well now there's been an eruption"
For those of you not familiar w/ the 1980 classic British gangster movie "The Long Good Friday" do your selves a HUGE favour and either rent it from Netflixs or wherever you rent your movies from or go online and buy it from Amazon,Ebay,Overstock but PLEASE check it out,it's a classic and there's talk of a remake which frankly in this humble bloggers opinion will be two bob so see the original.
The scene where Harold delivers the quote I picked is pivotal to the storyline, and it captures how I feel right now,unfortunately I've been asked not to say anything about what's going on so I will toe the company line,it remains to be seen if the situation will right it's self of if I can let loose w/ both barrels in a day or two.
Since this is a running blog after all, I ran 9 miles after work,I've got a feeling tomorrows 9 miler will be ran w/ more venom...........stay tuned
We've all had it sweet,I've done every single one of you favours in the past,I've put money in all your pockets.
I've treated you all well,even when you was out of order right well now there's been an eruption"
For those of you not familiar w/ the 1980 classic British gangster movie "The Long Good Friday" do your selves a HUGE favour and either rent it from Netflixs or wherever you rent your movies from or go online and buy it from Amazon,Ebay,Overstock but PLEASE check it out,it's a classic and there's talk of a remake which frankly in this humble bloggers opinion will be two bob so see the original.
The scene where Harold delivers the quote I picked is pivotal to the storyline, and it captures how I feel right now,unfortunately I've been asked not to say anything about what's going on so I will toe the company line,it remains to be seen if the situation will right it's self of if I can let loose w/ both barrels in a day or two.
Since this is a running blog after all, I ran 9 miles after work,I've got a feeling tomorrows 9 miler will be ran w/ more venom...........stay tuned
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Some Rest Day
To paraphrase Lloyd Bridges in "Airplane""looks like I picked the wrong day to take a rest day"
Don't get me wrong after the last seven days I was grateful for a rest day but given the glitch in my pc and then having to sit and watch my beloved Spurs lose 2.0 to Portsmouth in extra time in the FA Cup Semi Finals I could've used a run to relieve the stress,hey ho!
Much like the outcome of the FA Cup Semi Final the final say on if I run the Penn Relays Olympic Development 5,000m is also out of my control,all I can do is sit and wait and keep checking my emails to see if I'm in or not.
One thing I can control is running Friday's 10,000m at Widener University,my week is set in terms of mileage,I can still come out of the week w/ 50 miles this week.
If You Tube is still up and running at work I feel a bunch of 10,000m races will be on my menu beginning w/ the classic Geb vs Paul Tergat Sydney Olympic final
Don't get me wrong after the last seven days I was grateful for a rest day but given the glitch in my pc and then having to sit and watch my beloved Spurs lose 2.0 to Portsmouth in extra time in the FA Cup Semi Finals I could've used a run to relieve the stress,hey ho!
Much like the outcome of the FA Cup Semi Final the final say on if I run the Penn Relays Olympic Development 5,000m is also out of my control,all I can do is sit and wait and keep checking my emails to see if I'm in or not.
One thing I can control is running Friday's 10,000m at Widener University,my week is set in terms of mileage,I can still come out of the week w/ 50 miles this week.
If You Tube is still up and running at work I feel a bunch of 10,000m races will be on my menu beginning w/ the classic Geb vs Paul Tergat Sydney Olympic final
Saturday, April 10, 2010
If This Was A Test I Think I Passed
At the second time of asking I managed a weeks worth of long runs b4 a 5x1,000m repeat.
My first attempt 5 weeks ago went swimmingly as I notched 5x8 miles Mon thro Fri b4 getting rained out of my repeats b4 rebounding w/ a 10 miler to notch my then biggest mileage week of 50 miles..........
Fast forward five weeks,Mon thro Fri 5x10 miles{lest we forget Sundays 10 mile run} and now w/ no rain and clear blue skies a chance to tackle my first repeats since March 16th but also and more importantly my first 5x1,000m since March 1st.
The whole point of this exercise was to see how well I'd cope w/ a set of repeats on tired legs,I won't lie Wednesday when I felt fatigued and then Thursday when I felt a little leg weary I wasn't overly confident of doing well but I think it's a natural reaction given the mileage I'd put in,all I could do was wake up w/ a positive attitude and give it my all.
Out to Lower Merion High School by 12.30pm, a mile warm up and some core strength stretches b4 stripping down to my tshirt and shorts,it was warm and sunny enough for that if not a little windy around the top turn and back straight.
1,000m,#1 1.12,1.21,38-3.11.82. The plan was to try and go out in 1.15-1.20-35 I wasn't far off if I say so myself,I knew I could not risk a 69 second opening 400m,this was no ordinary 1,000m repeat,this was a repeat on the back of 61 miles since Sunday,go out all guns blazin' on the opener and potentially implode.
1,000m,#2 1.21,1.20,35-3.16.66.I thought the opening 400m felt comfortable,no wonder!!!,I quickly made the adjustment and managed to finish w/ some dignity.
1,000m,#3 1.18,1.20,36-3.14.61. So far so good,if you'd have offered me my opening three splits b4 I began this workout I'd have willingly taken them,I dare not have hoped for this.
1,000m,#4 1.23,1.25,39-3.27.89. Frustrating as it was it was hardly a surprise,I said all along the premise of this workout wasn't how fast I could run but how I could run on tired legs.
The beauty of only 3 mins recovery in between repeats was little or no time to dwell on it
1,000m,#5 1.20,1.20,33-3.13.06. It's hard not to be pleased w/ a final repeat like this,much less a closing 200m of 33 seconds period...never mind the fact I'd just ran 54 miles for the week,64 counting last Sundays 10 miles.
Would the outcome of today been any different had I not had to run 10 miles Sunday b4 launching into 50 miles over the last five days?who knows but I said all along when I dreamt up this blueprint it was about being able to deliver the goods on tired legs and in my humble opinion today I did.
Will I attempt this schedule again?probably,I learnt a harsh lesson a year ago about mapping out my training sessions a month in advance so I'm keeping it week to week,even thought it's not committed to paper yet I do know what's in store for next week....and if I'm honest a few weeks in advance...........face it when you spend a week doing 10 miles runs each day you have ample time to think these things out and w/ races about to dictate the next two months I have to tweak my training around them,but yeah don't be surprised if another 5x10 miles/5x1,000m week doesn't show up in May,June and July.
My first attempt 5 weeks ago went swimmingly as I notched 5x8 miles Mon thro Fri b4 getting rained out of my repeats b4 rebounding w/ a 10 miler to notch my then biggest mileage week of 50 miles..........
Fast forward five weeks,Mon thro Fri 5x10 miles{lest we forget Sundays 10 mile run} and now w/ no rain and clear blue skies a chance to tackle my first repeats since March 16th but also and more importantly my first 5x1,000m since March 1st.
The whole point of this exercise was to see how well I'd cope w/ a set of repeats on tired legs,I won't lie Wednesday when I felt fatigued and then Thursday when I felt a little leg weary I wasn't overly confident of doing well but I think it's a natural reaction given the mileage I'd put in,all I could do was wake up w/ a positive attitude and give it my all.
Out to Lower Merion High School by 12.30pm, a mile warm up and some core strength stretches b4 stripping down to my tshirt and shorts,it was warm and sunny enough for that if not a little windy around the top turn and back straight.
1,000m,#1 1.12,1.21,38-3.11.82. The plan was to try and go out in 1.15-1.20-35 I wasn't far off if I say so myself,I knew I could not risk a 69 second opening 400m,this was no ordinary 1,000m repeat,this was a repeat on the back of 61 miles since Sunday,go out all guns blazin' on the opener and potentially implode.
1,000m,#2 1.21,1.20,35-3.16.66.I thought the opening 400m felt comfortable,no wonder!!!,I quickly made the adjustment and managed to finish w/ some dignity.
1,000m,#3 1.18,1.20,36-3.14.61. So far so good,if you'd have offered me my opening three splits b4 I began this workout I'd have willingly taken them,I dare not have hoped for this.
1,000m,#4 1.23,1.25,39-3.27.89. Frustrating as it was it was hardly a surprise,I said all along the premise of this workout wasn't how fast I could run but how I could run on tired legs.
The beauty of only 3 mins recovery in between repeats was little or no time to dwell on it
1,000m,#5 1.20,1.20,33-3.13.06. It's hard not to be pleased w/ a final repeat like this,much less a closing 200m of 33 seconds period...never mind the fact I'd just ran 54 miles for the week,64 counting last Sundays 10 miles.
Would the outcome of today been any different had I not had to run 10 miles Sunday b4 launching into 50 miles over the last five days?who knows but I said all along when I dreamt up this blueprint it was about being able to deliver the goods on tired legs and in my humble opinion today I did.
Will I attempt this schedule again?probably,I learnt a harsh lesson a year ago about mapping out my training sessions a month in advance so I'm keeping it week to week,even thought it's not committed to paper yet I do know what's in store for next week....and if I'm honest a few weeks in advance...........face it when you spend a week doing 10 miles runs each day you have ample time to think these things out and w/ races about to dictate the next two months I have to tweak my training around them,but yeah don't be surprised if another 5x10 miles/5x1,000m week doesn't show up in May,June and July.
Friday, April 9, 2010
50 Not Out
W/ the 20/20 Cricket World Cup at the end of the month I couldn't resist a cricket reference!
After four days of summer like tempratures it was back to spring like conditions this afternoon which suited me,while todays run was the most important to me I couldn't help but ponder tomorrow's prepossed 5x1,000m repeats but like I said they're tomorrow for now it was time to focus on my 10 miler
When I reached the turn around I was at 45 miles,which was my total mileage for last week,this week was always scheduled to be my big mileage week,from here on in I'm looking at 45-50 miles per week untill early July when I may attempt a 6x10 mile 60 mile week.....but like I said that's not till July.
Another surprizingly brisk time for my 10 miles,out by 4.45pm,home by 5.50pm....so much for easing down b4 tomorrows repeats!!!,I just don't know how to run slow,it's not in my dna,I remember arriving in Orono for 07 Nationals and doing a mile warm up to get a feel for the track and my team mate and roomie on that trip Ray saying after a lap"damn your warm up mile is fast"!!!
After four days of summer like tempratures it was back to spring like conditions this afternoon which suited me,while todays run was the most important to me I couldn't help but ponder tomorrow's prepossed 5x1,000m repeats but like I said they're tomorrow for now it was time to focus on my 10 miler
When I reached the turn around I was at 45 miles,which was my total mileage for last week,this week was always scheduled to be my big mileage week,from here on in I'm looking at 45-50 miles per week untill early July when I may attempt a 6x10 mile 60 mile week.....but like I said that's not till July.
Another surprizingly brisk time for my 10 miles,out by 4.45pm,home by 5.50pm....so much for easing down b4 tomorrows repeats!!!,I just don't know how to run slow,it's not in my dna,I remember arriving in Orono for 07 Nationals and doing a mile warm up to get a feel for the track and my team mate and roomie on that trip Ray saying after a lap"damn your warm up mile is fast"!!!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
One Step Closer
10 miler #4,#5 if you count Sunday as I edged closer to a record setting 55 mile week.
Having taken full advantage of an early nite opportunity last nite I felt a little less leg weary than yesterday,as I made my way on the out bound section of Cobbs Creek Parkway I was reminded of an old Monty Python sketch"Secret Service" where the punch line was "still I was getting used to it by then"
W/ You Tube still available at work I've been able to watch some classic 5,000m runners and races the past few days,I've watched Emil Zatopek,Hicham El Guerrouj and of course Steve Prefontaine.
The Munich 72 5,000m race was unbelievable,I still feel if Pre hadn't hit the front w/ 4 laps to go w/ such gusto he may've had something left off that final turn,that said how Ian Stewart hauled him back in for the bronze is still beyond me.
You can't help but wonder what might've been four years later in Montreal had Pre not died a few months prior to the 76 Olympics,I feel an older wiser Pre would've been a better match for double champion Viren second time around,alas we never got to find out.
One more 10 miler tomorrow to tie me at 50 miles my longest week to date back in March between the 8th and 14th off of 5x8 miles a rest day and a 10 miler,this time around we're looking at 5x10 miles and then the killer 5x1,000m on Saturday
Having taken full advantage of an early nite opportunity last nite I felt a little less leg weary than yesterday,as I made my way on the out bound section of Cobbs Creek Parkway I was reminded of an old Monty Python sketch"Secret Service" where the punch line was "still I was getting used to it by then"
W/ You Tube still available at work I've been able to watch some classic 5,000m runners and races the past few days,I've watched Emil Zatopek,Hicham El Guerrouj and of course Steve Prefontaine.
The Munich 72 5,000m race was unbelievable,I still feel if Pre hadn't hit the front w/ 4 laps to go w/ such gusto he may've had something left off that final turn,that said how Ian Stewart hauled him back in for the bronze is still beyond me.
You can't help but wonder what might've been four years later in Montreal had Pre not died a few months prior to the 76 Olympics,I feel an older wiser Pre would've been a better match for double champion Viren second time around,alas we never got to find out.
One more 10 miler tomorrow to tie me at 50 miles my longest week to date back in March between the 8th and 14th off of 5x8 miles a rest day and a 10 miler,this time around we're looking at 5x10 miles and then the killer 5x1,000m on Saturday
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Half Way There
I knew from a physical and mental standpoint today was the day I had to get through.
10 miler#3 on the week but also my 4th in a row since Sunday and I was feeling the collective weight of those 10 miles,the summer like heat and not to mention being up till 11pm last nite to catch"Justified"on FX.
Any time I nodding off in my office in front of the pc I know I'm tired but there was never any chance of me blowing off tonites run,the whole point of this week was to run 5x10 miles Monday through Friday b4 hitting the track Saturday for 5x1,000m so when I got home at 4.30pm it was a quick change from work clothes to running clothes and out the door.
Remarkably tonite was faster than yesterday....so much for being fatigued,I left at 4.45pm and returned at 5.53pm....I know it makes no sense to me either,in an ideal world{whatever that is??!!}Monday would've been easy,yesterday slightly faster,my fastest run of the week today,down shifting slightly tomorrow b4 easing through Friday and then leaving it all on the track Saturday....this could still happen,I'm taking an early nite tonite trust me,there's nothing on tv{not strictly true the season finale of"Being Erica" comes on at 10pm but I've missed the last two episodes so I'd prefer to watch them on my dvr b4 the season finale}and as they say down south"I'm plum tuckered out"
10 miler#3 on the week but also my 4th in a row since Sunday and I was feeling the collective weight of those 10 miles,the summer like heat and not to mention being up till 11pm last nite to catch"Justified"on FX.
Any time I nodding off in my office in front of the pc I know I'm tired but there was never any chance of me blowing off tonites run,the whole point of this week was to run 5x10 miles Monday through Friday b4 hitting the track Saturday for 5x1,000m so when I got home at 4.30pm it was a quick change from work clothes to running clothes and out the door.
Remarkably tonite was faster than yesterday....so much for being fatigued,I left at 4.45pm and returned at 5.53pm....I know it makes no sense to me either,in an ideal world{whatever that is??!!}Monday would've been easy,yesterday slightly faster,my fastest run of the week today,down shifting slightly tomorrow b4 easing through Friday and then leaving it all on the track Saturday....this could still happen,I'm taking an early nite tonite trust me,there's nothing on tv{not strictly true the season finale of"Being Erica" comes on at 10pm but I've missed the last two episodes so I'd prefer to watch them on my dvr b4 the season finale}and as they say down south"I'm plum tuckered out"
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Another Jewel In The Crown
So as I mentioned yesterday I'm considering going for the 10,000m club record next Friday at Widener University.
When I began eying up the 3,000m and 2 mile records in late January that was as far as I was looking,but once they fell on March 6th and 19th I began to consider the 5,000m which I took on Saturday which meant all that was left was the 5k road and 10,000m records....
10,000m rarely gets ran on the track,at 25 laps are you wondering why?in fact I've only ran 10,000m once back in 87 and there is no club record for 10,000m but I figured since I own the track records at:1,500m,3,000m.2 miles and 5,000m I should go for the clean sweep at the distance records and add the 10,000m.
To factor in my 10,000m race next Friday I'll tweak my mileage next week,should things go to plan I'm still looking at 50 miles w/ the 10,000m serving as my speed workout for the week...but like I said that's next week,I need to get through this week first.
Tonite was 10 miler#2 for the week, a mild improvement time wise on last nite,not that these runs are about time but it was good to know I hadn't allowed the freakishly warm conditions to slow me down{sidebar the course along Cobbs Creek Parkway is well shaded which will be a big plus this summer}
Final footnote of the day once I was able to access Facebook at work today I knew something was off,so I chanced my arm and....voila You Tube!
I finally got to see the Millrose Games 4x4 from January which was kind of neat to see me run at Madison Square Garden,I also watched a bunch of Eamonn Coghlan,Sonia o Sullivan,Gabriela Szabo,Seb Coe John Treacy and Steve Ovett races,but the race I enjoyed the most was finally seeing the Melbourne 56 1,500m final when Ronnie Delaney won Olympic Gold,I have the picture of him crossing the finish line on my wall along side pictures of Marcus and Eamonn,I'm reading his biography but until today I'd never seen the race,it was a thing of beauty,9th at the bell and a blistering final lap,well worth waiting 54 years to see!
When I began eying up the 3,000m and 2 mile records in late January that was as far as I was looking,but once they fell on March 6th and 19th I began to consider the 5,000m which I took on Saturday which meant all that was left was the 5k road and 10,000m records....
10,000m rarely gets ran on the track,at 25 laps are you wondering why?in fact I've only ran 10,000m once back in 87 and there is no club record for 10,000m but I figured since I own the track records at:1,500m,3,000m.2 miles and 5,000m I should go for the clean sweep at the distance records and add the 10,000m.
To factor in my 10,000m race next Friday I'll tweak my mileage next week,should things go to plan I'm still looking at 50 miles w/ the 10,000m serving as my speed workout for the week...but like I said that's next week,I need to get through this week first.
Tonite was 10 miler#2 for the week, a mild improvement time wise on last nite,not that these runs are about time but it was good to know I hadn't allowed the freakishly warm conditions to slow me down{sidebar the course along Cobbs Creek Parkway is well shaded which will be a big plus this summer}
Final footnote of the day once I was able to access Facebook at work today I knew something was off,so I chanced my arm and....voila You Tube!
I finally got to see the Millrose Games 4x4 from January which was kind of neat to see me run at Madison Square Garden,I also watched a bunch of Eamonn Coghlan,Sonia o Sullivan,Gabriela Szabo,Seb Coe John Treacy and Steve Ovett races,but the race I enjoyed the most was finally seeing the Melbourne 56 1,500m final when Ronnie Delaney won Olympic Gold,I have the picture of him crossing the finish line on my wall along side pictures of Marcus and Eamonn,I'm reading his biography but until today I'd never seen the race,it was a thing of beauty,9th at the bell and a blistering final lap,well worth waiting 54 years to see!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Rebels Been Rebels Since 1916
I realize the expression Easter Monday is some what of an mute point here in America,here it's just another day but in Canada,England,Ireland and several other probably European based countries it's an actual holiday.....how'd ya like them apples???
For me Easter Monday marks a land mark point in Irish history,the Easter Uprising of 1916 that would eventually lead to the formation of The Irish Free State or The Republic Of Ireland as it's been known since 1932.
Legend has it while the British Army were off at the horse races the small band of rebels lead by Patrick Pearse and Tom Clarke seized control of the Dublin General Post Office and other strategic points in Dublin and held the British Army at bay for five days in spite of being out numbered and out gunned.
Eventually the British Army broke the rebels and quashed the rebellion and Pearse,Clarke,Connolly and 12 other rebels were tried and executed for their insertion but rather than crush the uprising the fallen rebels became heroes and the Easter Uprising served as a rallying call,16 years later Ireland was free from British rule.....and now you know why Easter Monday is a big day for me
Ok so since this is a running blog after all,I kicked off what I hope will be 5 days of 10 milers Monday thro Friday followed by 5x1,000m on Saturday at Lower Merion's track,I tried this once b4 only for the rain to scupper that plan w/ the repeats so I'm hoping second time will be a charm.
The run it's self was mid tempo,while I don't actually time them but I saw 5.05pm when I left and 6.15pm when I returned home,65 mins for 10 miles feels right, make that 70,see what happens when you blog,download a Dropkick Murphys cd on to your Ipod and watch "Gossip Girl" all at the same time!!!I wanted to put down a marker today for the week,I'd like to tweak the pace during the week....the week to tweak maybe??
W/ one eye on the Olympic Development 5,000m in 17 days time this would be my week of high mileage{55}b4 dropping down slightly next week to 50 b4 easing into Distance Nite at Penn Relays.
Thanks to all the emails from my team mates today after Dave and Chuck had posted my club record on the clubs website and club records page and here's something to ponder,w/ the club records for 3,000m,2 miles and 5,000m do I consider the 10,000m also?
For me Easter Monday marks a land mark point in Irish history,the Easter Uprising of 1916 that would eventually lead to the formation of The Irish Free State or The Republic Of Ireland as it's been known since 1932.
Legend has it while the British Army were off at the horse races the small band of rebels lead by Patrick Pearse and Tom Clarke seized control of the Dublin General Post Office and other strategic points in Dublin and held the British Army at bay for five days in spite of being out numbered and out gunned.
Eventually the British Army broke the rebels and quashed the rebellion and Pearse,Clarke,Connolly and 12 other rebels were tried and executed for their insertion but rather than crush the uprising the fallen rebels became heroes and the Easter Uprising served as a rallying call,16 years later Ireland was free from British rule.....and now you know why Easter Monday is a big day for me
Ok so since this is a running blog after all,I kicked off what I hope will be 5 days of 10 milers Monday thro Friday followed by 5x1,000m on Saturday at Lower Merion's track,I tried this once b4 only for the rain to scupper that plan w/ the repeats so I'm hoping second time will be a charm.
The run it's self was mid tempo,while I don't actually time them but I saw 5.05pm when I left and 6.15pm when I returned home,65 mins for 10 miles feels right, make that 70,see what happens when you blog,download a Dropkick Murphys cd on to your Ipod and watch "Gossip Girl" all at the same time!!!I wanted to put down a marker today for the week,I'd like to tweak the pace during the week....the week to tweak maybe??
W/ one eye on the Olympic Development 5,000m in 17 days time this would be my week of high mileage{55}b4 dropping down slightly next week to 50 b4 easing into Distance Nite at Penn Relays.
Thanks to all the emails from my team mates today after Dave and Chuck had posted my club record on the clubs website and club records page and here's something to ponder,w/ the club records for 3,000m,2 miles and 5,000m do I consider the 10,000m also?
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Onward Christian Solider
If it's Sunday{and I'm not in Boston!}it must be an extended extended out and back along Cobbs Creek Parkway today.
This brought my weekly mileage up to 45 miles for the week,from here on in for the coming weeks and months a plateau of 40,45,50 miles will be my weekly average.
Hit the CCP at 12pm, a beautifully sunny day which seemed right and propper for Easter Sunday,at the top of Cedar Ave on the corner of Cedar Ave and Cobbs Creek is St Cyprians Catholic church which I always bless myself when I run by it.
On my way home midday mass must've let out as the congregation were outside,I feel a pang of guilt{Irish Catholic it goes w/ the territory!} I hadn't attended Easter Sunday mass,but I refuse to be a hypocrite,I don't attend mass on any Sunday so why put on an act today?
In some ways my running is my tribute to God,I used to have an old Runners World quote from former Olympic/World Champion and former World Record holder Noureddine Morceli on my door that said"I truly believe I am gifted from God"it's a quote that's stuck w/ all these years and long b4 the days of my blog I kept a running log,on the inside cover I'd write Quotable Quotes from runners and that's one I've applied to myself.
I feel my running is a God given talent and one of the things that got me back into my running in 01 after a 5 year hiatus was while I suffered a crisis of faith I felt my running put me back on good ground w/ the Lord,frankly as a runner and a Catholic I've never looked back so while a case can be made against me for not going to mass each Sunday I'd like to think I honour God w/ my running.
On Friday I mentioned that Easter is a three part celebration for me,Good Friday,Easter Sunday and Easter Monday,so here's my Easter Sunday story.
Way back when I was either 6 or 7 my parents separated,I won't overload you w/ all the gory details but surfice to say it was a stressful time for all,I didn't see my dad for weeks{I 'm sure it seemed longer being that young}but Easter Sunday would reunite us.
Be it 69 or 70 religion was a far more powerful force back then and Easter Sunday or not there were probably 9 masses held on a Sunday at my church it just so happened that my mother and father chose 10am to go.
I don't know who saw who first but I do know that when the priest uttered the line"the mass has ended go in peace" I was quickly out of the blocks to the church entrance where my father was waiting for me and I can still picture him scooping me up in his arms,whatever had gone on between Eileen and Kevin to lead to a separation they were not about to air their laundry outside St Saviours church on Easter Sunday.
W/ protocol and decorum the watch words Eileen and Kevin spoke to each other for the first time in weeks,Eileen offered Kevin a ride home which he duly accepted,halfway between the church and my father's apartment was a newsagents,Kevin asked Eileen if she could stop the car so he could grab a Sunday paper.....he later emerged w/ said Sunday paper under his arm but also w/ the biggest Easter Egg they probably had in there.
All these years later I still remember that Easter Sunday it was w/out doubt the turning point in the cold war between my parents,not long after that reunion Eileen and Kevin came to an arrangement where I'd live w/ her during the week and w/ him on the weekends, this went on for 12 years b4 I opted to live w/ my father full time and in of it's self allow my mother and I to hatch the relationship we share to this day.
So there you have it,why Easter Sunday means alot to me,the final entry of the Top Cat Easter Trilogy will be tomorrow.
This brought my weekly mileage up to 45 miles for the week,from here on in for the coming weeks and months a plateau of 40,45,50 miles will be my weekly average.
Hit the CCP at 12pm, a beautifully sunny day which seemed right and propper for Easter Sunday,at the top of Cedar Ave on the corner of Cedar Ave and Cobbs Creek is St Cyprians Catholic church which I always bless myself when I run by it.
On my way home midday mass must've let out as the congregation were outside,I feel a pang of guilt{Irish Catholic it goes w/ the territory!} I hadn't attended Easter Sunday mass,but I refuse to be a hypocrite,I don't attend mass on any Sunday so why put on an act today?
In some ways my running is my tribute to God,I used to have an old Runners World quote from former Olympic/World Champion and former World Record holder Noureddine Morceli on my door that said"I truly believe I am gifted from God"it's a quote that's stuck w/ all these years and long b4 the days of my blog I kept a running log,on the inside cover I'd write Quotable Quotes from runners and that's one I've applied to myself.
I feel my running is a God given talent and one of the things that got me back into my running in 01 after a 5 year hiatus was while I suffered a crisis of faith I felt my running put me back on good ground w/ the Lord,frankly as a runner and a Catholic I've never looked back so while a case can be made against me for not going to mass each Sunday I'd like to think I honour God w/ my running.
On Friday I mentioned that Easter is a three part celebration for me,Good Friday,Easter Sunday and Easter Monday,so here's my Easter Sunday story.
Way back when I was either 6 or 7 my parents separated,I won't overload you w/ all the gory details but surfice to say it was a stressful time for all,I didn't see my dad for weeks{I 'm sure it seemed longer being that young}but Easter Sunday would reunite us.
Be it 69 or 70 religion was a far more powerful force back then and Easter Sunday or not there were probably 9 masses held on a Sunday at my church it just so happened that my mother and father chose 10am to go.
I don't know who saw who first but I do know that when the priest uttered the line"the mass has ended go in peace" I was quickly out of the blocks to the church entrance where my father was waiting for me and I can still picture him scooping me up in his arms,whatever had gone on between Eileen and Kevin to lead to a separation they were not about to air their laundry outside St Saviours church on Easter Sunday.
W/ protocol and decorum the watch words Eileen and Kevin spoke to each other for the first time in weeks,Eileen offered Kevin a ride home which he duly accepted,halfway between the church and my father's apartment was a newsagents,Kevin asked Eileen if she could stop the car so he could grab a Sunday paper.....he later emerged w/ said Sunday paper under his arm but also w/ the biggest Easter Egg they probably had in there.
All these years later I still remember that Easter Sunday it was w/out doubt the turning point in the cold war between my parents,not long after that reunion Eileen and Kevin came to an arrangement where I'd live w/ her during the week and w/ him on the weekends, this went on for 12 years b4 I opted to live w/ my father full time and in of it's self allow my mother and I to hatch the relationship we share to this day.
So there you have it,why Easter Sunday means alot to me,the final entry of the Top Cat Easter Trilogy will be tomorrow.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
A C R Another Club Record
Chalk another one up to me,my pr of 17.03 from my last 5,000m in 05 gone,the club record of 16.29.7.gone and frankly I'm just getting warmed up!!
One advantage of a meet at my home track was being able to pace myself all day,the 5,000m was scheduled for 5pm,and I figured I didn't need to be there till 3pm so a leisurely day was on tap,I got up around 8.30am and made breakfast and enjoyed coffee and oj while watching what may well be the Premier League decider between Man Utd and Chelsea,2.1 to Chelsea leaving them 2 points ahead w/ 5 games to go.
Then for the important game Sunderland vs Spurs,there's always a risk watching your team b4 a race,win and you're jacked up,lose you could be deflated....we lost 3.1 but rather than be deflated I opted to put my disappointment into the race and take my frustrations out over 12 and 1/2 laps.
I left home at 2.30pm and took an easy walk to 33rd and Spruce and arrived by 3.10pm,the meet was running ahead so I was instructed to report back at 4pm for check in,I killed 50 mins in the south stand watching 400m hurdles and 200m b4 returning to the infield to check in.
I did my mile warm up on the infield b4 returning for hip and chest #.
The field had shrunk from 41 to 35 and I was now seeded #28,aside from not having ran a 5,000m since July 24th 05 I was a little concerned how I'd handle a race w/ 35 runners period much less running in 5 lanes....I needn't have worried on either count!
Conditions were sunny and warm when the starters pistol went off at 4.45pm and despite the crowded field I worked my way through the opening 200m in 35 seconds on route to a 74 second opening lap....according to the time caller anyways,frankly I was too preoccupied weaving my way up from 34th place and into the middle of the second pack.
4.58 at the mile more or less where I wanted to be as the field began to string out I worked my way up to the lead of the second pack,this was never about position,it was always about time and thus far I was holding my own.
I ran a smart race,pace wise,tactics wise,yeah there's room for improvement but for a somewhat novice at 5,000m and lest we forget being twice the age of almost the entire 35 man field I did more than hold my own.
10.14 I think at 2 miles unlike my Eastern Regional Indoor 3,000m on March 6th when I got caught in no mans land from the get go today I was always in contact w/ the runners ahead of me,I had done a good job of remaining focused on the runners around me and not counting down laps or fixating on splits/pace,feeling good and going along for the ride.
W/ 3 1/2 laps to go I began to feel the first signs fatigue,suck it up it's 1,400m I told myself.
Even though the race had started on the north side of the track where I usually start my 600m,1,000m and mile repeats it would finish on the south side where my 600m and 1,000m repeats finish,when it came time to drop the hammer w/ 200m to go I'd know what it felt like to hammer the top turn and drive up the home straight.
I forget what the bell lap was when I went through it now it was just a matter of seeing it through to the finish,down the back straight I passed a couple of runners and began to focus on the Penn athlete ahead of me,going into the turn I passed him and began to pour it on up the home straight,the clock was slightly obscured by the lap counter but to be honest I was more focused on the two runners ahead of me and if I could reel them in....I didn't but I finished 25th in 15.57.74........yeah baby!!
Sub 16,66 seconds off my pr,32 seconds off the club record,job done.
Post cool down I had a few moments to reflect on my accomplishment,just like I said to myself after my 9.13.6. 3,000m on March 6th one 3,000m race does not make me a 3,000m runner,I can improve on today's time for sure but to put it in perspective today's time would've won me Outdoor Nationals and gotten me 5th at Worlds,the road to Sacramento 2010 and 2011 began today.
I do plan another 5,000m this month,if I can't get into the Olympic Development 5,000m at Penn Relays on April 22nd I'll opt for the New York Relays on April 18th in the hopes of lowering my pr/club record and then begin lowering my time to make me a medal contender at next years Worlds and also prepare for this summers Outdoor Nationals
One advantage of a meet at my home track was being able to pace myself all day,the 5,000m was scheduled for 5pm,and I figured I didn't need to be there till 3pm so a leisurely day was on tap,I got up around 8.30am and made breakfast and enjoyed coffee and oj while watching what may well be the Premier League decider between Man Utd and Chelsea,2.1 to Chelsea leaving them 2 points ahead w/ 5 games to go.
Then for the important game Sunderland vs Spurs,there's always a risk watching your team b4 a race,win and you're jacked up,lose you could be deflated....we lost 3.1 but rather than be deflated I opted to put my disappointment into the race and take my frustrations out over 12 and 1/2 laps.
I left home at 2.30pm and took an easy walk to 33rd and Spruce and arrived by 3.10pm,the meet was running ahead so I was instructed to report back at 4pm for check in,I killed 50 mins in the south stand watching 400m hurdles and 200m b4 returning to the infield to check in.
I did my mile warm up on the infield b4 returning for hip and chest #.
The field had shrunk from 41 to 35 and I was now seeded #28,aside from not having ran a 5,000m since July 24th 05 I was a little concerned how I'd handle a race w/ 35 runners period much less running in 5 lanes....I needn't have worried on either count!
Conditions were sunny and warm when the starters pistol went off at 4.45pm and despite the crowded field I worked my way through the opening 200m in 35 seconds on route to a 74 second opening lap....according to the time caller anyways,frankly I was too preoccupied weaving my way up from 34th place and into the middle of the second pack.
4.58 at the mile more or less where I wanted to be as the field began to string out I worked my way up to the lead of the second pack,this was never about position,it was always about time and thus far I was holding my own.
I ran a smart race,pace wise,tactics wise,yeah there's room for improvement but for a somewhat novice at 5,000m and lest we forget being twice the age of almost the entire 35 man field I did more than hold my own.
10.14 I think at 2 miles unlike my Eastern Regional Indoor 3,000m on March 6th when I got caught in no mans land from the get go today I was always in contact w/ the runners ahead of me,I had done a good job of remaining focused on the runners around me and not counting down laps or fixating on splits/pace,feeling good and going along for the ride.
W/ 3 1/2 laps to go I began to feel the first signs fatigue,suck it up it's 1,400m I told myself.
Even though the race had started on the north side of the track where I usually start my 600m,1,000m and mile repeats it would finish on the south side where my 600m and 1,000m repeats finish,when it came time to drop the hammer w/ 200m to go I'd know what it felt like to hammer the top turn and drive up the home straight.
I forget what the bell lap was when I went through it now it was just a matter of seeing it through to the finish,down the back straight I passed a couple of runners and began to focus on the Penn athlete ahead of me,going into the turn I passed him and began to pour it on up the home straight,the clock was slightly obscured by the lap counter but to be honest I was more focused on the two runners ahead of me and if I could reel them in....I didn't but I finished 25th in 15.57.74........yeah baby!!
Sub 16,66 seconds off my pr,32 seconds off the club record,job done.
Post cool down I had a few moments to reflect on my accomplishment,just like I said to myself after my 9.13.6. 3,000m on March 6th one 3,000m race does not make me a 3,000m runner,I can improve on today's time for sure but to put it in perspective today's time would've won me Outdoor Nationals and gotten me 5th at Worlds,the road to Sacramento 2010 and 2011 began today.
I do plan another 5,000m this month,if I can't get into the Olympic Development 5,000m at Penn Relays on April 22nd I'll opt for the New York Relays on April 18th in the hopes of lowering my pr/club record and then begin lowering my time to make me a medal contender at next years Worlds and also prepare for this summers Outdoor Nationals
Standing On The Edge Of The Abyss
"So don't let me die just wondering what it was I left behind,I want a race well run ahead of the gun w/ a dance b4 the far finish line.
So no life long regrets,only well feathered steps,until these shoes I can no longer shine,but don't let me die still wandering for the love I left behind."
Don't Let Me Die Flogging Molly
Nothin' like a little Flogging Molly to get the celtic blood pumping b4 a race,hell it worked last weekend!!!
I wonder how Eamonn Coghlan felt on the eve of his first ever 5,000m in 1979?if I'm not mistaken it was at the AAA's Championships in Crystal Palace having won siver at 1,500m in the 78 European C'ships in Prague and gold at the 79 World Indoor C'ships in Vienna he made the move up to 5,000m b4 the Moscow 80 Olympics and in spite of taking on established 5,000m runners Mike McCleod and Rod Dixon Eamonn was victorious thus beginning a 5,000m career that encompassed a low of 4th in Moscow but Gold in Helsinki three years later in the inaugural World Championships.
Great milers/1,500m runners having been moving upto 5,000m for years,as far back as the Flyin' Finn Paavo Nurmi to modern day great and inspiration Bernard Lagat,now is my time to test the waters and see if I have what it takes to make that move,I've said b4 if ever there was a year to step outside my 800m/1,500m comfort zone to see if the 3,000m/5,000m is worth a try it's now.
I have just under an hour to kill b4 walking down to famed Franklin Field,a walk I've made countless times for workouts and Masters 4x400m relays,let's see what the outcome is today shall we?
So no life long regrets,only well feathered steps,until these shoes I can no longer shine,but don't let me die still wandering for the love I left behind."
Don't Let Me Die Flogging Molly
Nothin' like a little Flogging Molly to get the celtic blood pumping b4 a race,hell it worked last weekend!!!
I wonder how Eamonn Coghlan felt on the eve of his first ever 5,000m in 1979?if I'm not mistaken it was at the AAA's Championships in Crystal Palace having won siver at 1,500m in the 78 European C'ships in Prague and gold at the 79 World Indoor C'ships in Vienna he made the move up to 5,000m b4 the Moscow 80 Olympics and in spite of taking on established 5,000m runners Mike McCleod and Rod Dixon Eamonn was victorious thus beginning a 5,000m career that encompassed a low of 4th in Moscow but Gold in Helsinki three years later in the inaugural World Championships.
Great milers/1,500m runners having been moving upto 5,000m for years,as far back as the Flyin' Finn Paavo Nurmi to modern day great and inspiration Bernard Lagat,now is my time to test the waters and see if I have what it takes to make that move,I've said b4 if ever there was a year to step outside my 800m/1,500m comfort zone to see if the 3,000m/5,000m is worth a try it's now.
I have just under an hour to kill b4 walking down to famed Franklin Field,a walk I've made countless times for workouts and Masters 4x400m relays,let's see what the outcome is today shall we?
Friday, April 2, 2010
Good Friday Not As Good As Last Friday,But None The Less A Good Friday
"People have written you off many times but you are a great survivor
And though you have suffered some terrible crimes,I know it's just made you stronger
You're standing on your own two feet,got a morbid past but you've got it beat
Got the key for living sitting in your hand,now use it while you can
You've got to hold on to how you feel today,this is the last train from the wasteland"
Last Train From The Wasteland Stiff Little Fingers
Good Friday and Easter stir up some personal emotions for yours truly,over the next few days I'll shed some light on them.
Obviously from a religious stand point, a lifetimes worth of being raised Irish catholic means the significance of today is not lost on me,ditto for Easter Sunday,but away from the obvious today and Sunday,and Monday all have a huge meaning for me.
In 1998 the Peace Treaty was signed in Northern Ireland that brought about an end to years of conflict and bloodshed,not just in the North but also to mainland Britain
Granted I didn't grow up on the troubled streets of Belfast,Armagh,Londonderry etc but I might as well have as "The Troubles" were never far away,you couldn't watch the news or pick up a newspaper w/out having the situation rammed down your throat,it was something I didn't miss when I moved here in 87 a good 11 years b4 the historic Good Friday Peace Treaty brought an end to it all,ergo the use of Belfast's own Still Little Fingers tribute to that historic day,long may it continue.
Good Friday or not I still had to work,people don't stop being sick just because it's holiday of sorts so I was up w/ the Dawn Patrol this morning and into work bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6.25am............or as bright eyed and bushy tailed as one can be at such an ungodly hour!
Once worked slowed down to a near stand still by lunch my boss told Chris and I we could take off....and still get paid for our regular time....and w/ that yours truly was off like the proverbial prom dress by 1.20pm.!!!
Given tomorrow is taken up w/ my race and Sunday rightfully most places of business should be closed I knew to sandwich the run in between trips to the Grocery store man cannot live by Gatorade and Banana's alone so some plundering of the food stores was required.
As for my run an easy 6 miler to bring my weekly mileage to 30 miles but more importantly at an almost pedestrian pace,I left here at 3pm and it was 3.53pm when I returned,that's more akin to my 8 milers so clearly I had gotten the pace right today in the belief that when the gun goes off at 5pm I'm more than ready to deliver the goods.
Tonite it's an easy nite, a pre race Pasta dinner is coming up, a little tv,some catching up w/ my peeps on Facebook and zzzs so I can wake up ready tomorrow to hopefully take another club record and add it to my list,given my race isn't till 5pm I dare say there'll be some musings on the blog prior to my departure tomorrow afternoon.
And though you have suffered some terrible crimes,I know it's just made you stronger
You're standing on your own two feet,got a morbid past but you've got it beat
Got the key for living sitting in your hand,now use it while you can
You've got to hold on to how you feel today,this is the last train from the wasteland"
Last Train From The Wasteland Stiff Little Fingers
Good Friday and Easter stir up some personal emotions for yours truly,over the next few days I'll shed some light on them.
Obviously from a religious stand point, a lifetimes worth of being raised Irish catholic means the significance of today is not lost on me,ditto for Easter Sunday,but away from the obvious today and Sunday,and Monday all have a huge meaning for me.
In 1998 the Peace Treaty was signed in Northern Ireland that brought about an end to years of conflict and bloodshed,not just in the North but also to mainland Britain
Granted I didn't grow up on the troubled streets of Belfast,Armagh,Londonderry etc but I might as well have as "The Troubles" were never far away,you couldn't watch the news or pick up a newspaper w/out having the situation rammed down your throat,it was something I didn't miss when I moved here in 87 a good 11 years b4 the historic Good Friday Peace Treaty brought an end to it all,ergo the use of Belfast's own Still Little Fingers tribute to that historic day,long may it continue.
Good Friday or not I still had to work,people don't stop being sick just because it's holiday of sorts so I was up w/ the Dawn Patrol this morning and into work bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6.25am............or as bright eyed and bushy tailed as one can be at such an ungodly hour!
Once worked slowed down to a near stand still by lunch my boss told Chris and I we could take off....and still get paid for our regular time....and w/ that yours truly was off like the proverbial prom dress by 1.20pm.!!!
Given tomorrow is taken up w/ my race and Sunday rightfully most places of business should be closed I knew to sandwich the run in between trips to the Grocery store man cannot live by Gatorade and Banana's alone so some plundering of the food stores was required.
As for my run an easy 6 miler to bring my weekly mileage to 30 miles but more importantly at an almost pedestrian pace,I left here at 3pm and it was 3.53pm when I returned,that's more akin to my 8 milers so clearly I had gotten the pace right today in the belief that when the gun goes off at 5pm I'm more than ready to deliver the goods.
Tonite it's an easy nite, a pre race Pasta dinner is coming up, a little tv,some catching up w/ my peeps on Facebook and zzzs so I can wake up ready tomorrow to hopefully take another club record and add it to my list,given my race isn't till 5pm I dare say there'll be some musings on the blog prior to my departure tomorrow afternoon.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Foolin'
Other than what I perceive as a glitch on my pay cheque today it was April Fools free....more or less,hey I'm not the cryptic here ok!
More blue skies and warm temps today to grace my 9 miler as I kept the pace to an even clip,no point leaving it all out on CCP b4 Saturdays race.
I got a list of the field, 41 of us ranging from 14.25 through 17.27,I'm seeded 34th at 16.00 it's a bit like entering the unknown,or at least the unfamiliar since it's been almost 5 years since my last 5,000m but as I proved a week b4 Indoor Nationals when I ran my first ever 2 mile race I'm capable of holding my own in distances not the norm for me.
Away from the run I ordered tix for Flogging Molly at the House Of Blues in Atlantic City on April 25th,I thought I'd missed my chance to see them when they swung thro Philly at the end of Feb but when I realized how easy it was to get to and from AC via the train it was on like a light switch,looks like it'll be the ideal way to round off Penn Relays weekend,me potentially running the Olympic Development 5,000m on Distance Nite{Thursday}checking out my team mates and friends on Friday and Saturday and then gettin' my jig on to Flogging Molly on Sunday,call it a belated St Paddy's Day pressie to meself....because I'm worth it!
More blue skies and warm temps today to grace my 9 miler as I kept the pace to an even clip,no point leaving it all out on CCP b4 Saturdays race.
I got a list of the field, 41 of us ranging from 14.25 through 17.27,I'm seeded 34th at 16.00 it's a bit like entering the unknown,or at least the unfamiliar since it's been almost 5 years since my last 5,000m but as I proved a week b4 Indoor Nationals when I ran my first ever 2 mile race I'm capable of holding my own in distances not the norm for me.
Away from the run I ordered tix for Flogging Molly at the House Of Blues in Atlantic City on April 25th,I thought I'd missed my chance to see them when they swung thro Philly at the end of Feb but when I realized how easy it was to get to and from AC via the train it was on like a light switch,looks like it'll be the ideal way to round off Penn Relays weekend,me potentially running the Olympic Development 5,000m on Distance Nite{Thursday}checking out my team mates and friends on Friday and Saturday and then gettin' my jig on to Flogging Molly on Sunday,call it a belated St Paddy's Day pressie to meself....because I'm worth it!
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