Hallowed Ground

"Now I've seen the future,and I've seen the past I've seen the lights go down on this world fading fast
And mister I walk in the valley of the shadow won't someone have mercy on my soul
On my soul,soul,soul
Hallowed ground how sad is the sound in the valley that once sang out,sang proud"
Hallowed Ground-The Alarm

Sadly the pc isn't allowing me to upload the great picture of Jumbo Elliot's statue in the west end of Villanova Stadium looking up the home straight,maybe I can upload it on my work pc and use it during the week,more's the pity as it would've made this entry more poignant.
You have to go back to the summer of 76 and the Montreal Olympics and my freshman year in high school to get to the heart of today's workout.
I'd won my freshman year 400m and 800m c'ship races and thus began a 34 year and counting love affair w/ running,that summer I watched my first Olympics,I have fleeting memories of Munich 72 but given my love of running began that summer I consider Montreal was my first major track event as a true athletics fan.

I knew nothing of the splash one Eamonn Coghlan had been making this side of the Atlantic Ocean in the NCAA's or the fact he was considered a strong medal hope in the 1,500m,as we all know he came up short in the final and finished 4th but it began my hero worship of the man known as "The Chairman Of The Boards" and lead to my discovery of Villanova.
As the years have passed,I've become quite steeped in the traditions of Villanova,the Holy Trinity of Irish milers Ronnie Delaney,Eamonn and Marcus O Sullivan and of course the man himself Jumbo Elliot who made Villanova running what it is.
Quite why it had taken me until now to venture up the Main Line to workout on the Villanova track I don't know but it's something I'd been considering for a while now,I had at one point planned my final track workout b4 Nationals to be there but things didn't quite work out,anyways today felt as good as any day to set foot on the hallowed ground that is the Jumbo Elliot Track at Villanova Stadium and put that right.

As I entered the stadium I stood in awe of the statue of Jumbo at the west end of the stadium and looked at the who's who of Villanova running greats on the wall near by,Coghlan,Delaney,O Sullivan{Marcus},Patrick,Huber,Rimes,Maree,Paige,Liquori,Ross,Tuppeny,Pyrah,O Sullivan{Sonia} this was more than just a set of mile repeats,this was a run down memory lane for me.
That said all that had to be put to one side as I conducted my 4x1 mile repeats....easier said than done but had I've gone to Temple,Lower Merion,Haverford etc it still would've been about ending the week w/ mile repeats and notching my first series of mile repeats in my build up to 5th Avenue Mile and Syracuse.

#1 mile,1.12-1.17-1.19-1.15-5.03.0.Clearly uneconomical splits and a tad too fast to open w/ but that said had I not gotten it so wrong a sub 5 was there for the taking which is heartening.
#2 mile,1.12-1.17-1.15-1.19-4.53.5.Are you shitting me a 4.53 mile!!!!????nice to know I'd saved my fastest mile split of the season for today.
#3 mile,1.14-1.18-1.12-1.16-5.00.5.Were Jumbo still alive I could picture him squeezing his tweed cap in his hands yelling"what kind of pacing do you call this???"
#4 mile,1.14-1.18-1.17-68-4.57.1.Holly Mary,mother of God....my slowest lap was a 1.19 all day??

Clearly from a pacing point of view today was flawed but I have to say to run those times by my lonesome at the end of a 44 mile week ain't too shabby.
Next Sunday's Track Pentathlon sticks a fork in mile repeats next week and it remains to be seen if I venture back to Villanova the following week for another crack at my mile repeats,as I said the other nite once college football kicks off in September the stadium and the track will be off limits but I might be able to squeeze in one or two more trips b4 then.

On June 11th I went 5.03.7-5.01.6-4.59.4-4.54.7.and on June 25th I went 5.00.4-4.59.4-5.03.0-5.04.2.and on July 12th when I was tapering for Nationals over 3x1 mile I went 4.58.3-5.00.2-4.59.1. so I feel it's only a matter of time b4 I return to the realm of 4x1 mile at sub 5, w/ slightly modified pacing today it was there for the taking but that's ok I know what needs to be done to take care of that and when I next attempt 4x1 mile repeats be they at Villanova or wherever I hope to go 4/4 at sub 5.