And so to my bread and butter repeat,4X1 mile,target time 1.20 per lap,5.20 per mile,five mins recovery inbetween,it,d been a while since my last set of mile repeats.....how long you ask? Nov 29th to be exact but I was hopeful of compleating all four under 5.20,having done so well Mon over 6x600m and Wed over 2x1,000m it,d be a shame to end the week on a down note,so strong was my desire to get this workout in that I elected to trek over to Roxboro post work knowing I,d be lucky if I got home much b4 7.30pm....it was closer to 7.45pm but anyways!!!
Conditions were overcast and a little humid,pleased to say I worked up a nice sweat this evening......prehaps not such good news if anyone had to sit next to me on the bus ride back to 30th St which I,m happy to report nobody did!!following my 6 sets of 10 second stretches and a mile warm up it was time to get it on.
1.20 per lap.....and yours truly opens w/ a 1.13,I swear I don,t do this intentionally,I wanted my 1st lap to set he tone for the session and was a tad gobsmacked to see 1.13 after 400m,dialing it back slightly I clocked 2.34 at 800m a 1.21 lapbut I still had 6 seconds in the time bank.3.55 at 1,200m another 1.21 lap followed by a 1.19 to finish in 5.14.05,a nice start.
Mile#2 opened w/ more even paced 1.17,followed by a 1.20,2.37 at 800m,3 seconds inside my target time,1.21 for lap 3 3.58 at 1,200m,still very even paced if I say so myself,another 1.17 lap to close 5.15.86,so far so good,I needed to keep this level of pace up for 8 more laps.
Mile#3,1.16 to open w/,comfortable,another 1.21 lap,if 1.21 was my slowest lap all session I,ve got to be pleased,2.37 at 800m,a 1.20 for lap 3 3.57,anytime I,m under 4.00 at 1,200m means I don,t have to go like the clappers on that final lap....unless it,s mile#4,another 1.20 lap to round out the mile 5.17.58,granted each mile had crept up ever so slightly but I was still under 5.20 and running very evenly.
Mile#4,as long as I went out evenly on that opening lap I knew I was good to go,if mile#3 had been a tinge conservative it was only because I wanted to be primed and ready for mile#4,clearly I,m not at the stage where I can run three hard miles and then a kick arse final mile yet but my aim is to get to that point,little accorns,big trees.1.16 ideal pace,what I,d like to have done was be able to start cranking up the pace but I,m just not there yet,another few weeks,1.20 for lap 2 2.36,I,d at least been consistant all evening w/ my splits period but my 800s were 2.34,2.37,2.37,2.36,another 1.20 lap3.56 at the bell,I wanted to be able to start my kick now but that,s a ways off just yet,even so I have to be pleased w/ a closing lap of 1.12 to finish my mile in 5.08.27.
All in all a good evenings work to round out a good weeks worth of repeats,my week isn,t done just yet, a 6 miler tomorrow followed by a 3 miler on Sunday to round out my milage at 31 miles for the week b4 launching into week 2 of my cycle w/ GP picking my workouts,all in good time,let,s see how chipper I feel at 8/9am tomorrow morning when I go to do my 6 miler.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Run Locally,Think Globally
An easy 4 miler around Clark Park w/ the emphasis on easy,tomorrow is my longest workout of the week 4x1 mile repeats.
A couple of slices of irony to ponder,my music du jour today was Stevie Ray Vaughan,the irony,for weeks leading upto Nationals I felt like I was crying the blues,today I was singing them,but when Stevie Ray is playing the blues I don,t feel it can get much better.Irony part two w/ outdoor season comes thoughts of summer,today felt like a summers day in early spring and judging from the masses at Clark Park this evening I was not alone in that thought I saw more people there today than all of March combined and frankly any day I can ditch my warm ups for a bandana,shades,t shirt and shorts while running is a good day.
Earlier in the day Ray and I began planning our trip to Spokane in August for Outdoor Nationals,it,s 17 weeks away,seems like a lot but it,ll soon come around.Ray also mentioned reading that World Indoor Masters in 2010 will be in British Columbia, to where they have been held in the past British Columbia feels like my back yard,not wishing to get carried away but potentially my travels could take me to Spokane this summer{Outdoor Nationals}Landover next winter{Indoor Nationals}Lathi Finland next summer{World Outdoor Masters}British Columbia 2010{World Indoor Masters}Sacramento 2010{Outdoor Nationals} and back to Sacramento the following summer for World Outdoor Masters,alot of training miles......but think of the frequent flyers miles!!!!!
My next trip isn,t quite as far....or exotic......Roxboro tomorrow for my 4x1 mile repeats,not quite as exciting location wise as the other venue.....but thankfully not as expensive either,note to self remember transpass leave passport behind tomorrow.
A couple of slices of irony to ponder,my music du jour today was Stevie Ray Vaughan,the irony,for weeks leading upto Nationals I felt like I was crying the blues,today I was singing them,but when Stevie Ray is playing the blues I don,t feel it can get much better.Irony part two w/ outdoor season comes thoughts of summer,today felt like a summers day in early spring and judging from the masses at Clark Park this evening I was not alone in that thought I saw more people there today than all of March combined and frankly any day I can ditch my warm ups for a bandana,shades,t shirt and shorts while running is a good day.
Earlier in the day Ray and I began planning our trip to Spokane in August for Outdoor Nationals,it,s 17 weeks away,seems like a lot but it,ll soon come around.Ray also mentioned reading that World Indoor Masters in 2010 will be in British Columbia, to where they have been held in the past British Columbia feels like my back yard,not wishing to get carried away but potentially my travels could take me to Spokane this summer{Outdoor Nationals}Landover next winter{Indoor Nationals}Lathi Finland next summer{World Outdoor Masters}British Columbia 2010{World Indoor Masters}Sacramento 2010{Outdoor Nationals} and back to Sacramento the following summer for World Outdoor Masters,alot of training miles......but think of the frequent flyers miles!!!!!
My next trip isn,t quite as far....or exotic......Roxboro tomorrow for my 4x1 mile repeats,not quite as exciting location wise as the other venue.....but thankfully not as expensive either,note to self remember transpass leave passport behind tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Ah Yes It,s Fun Time Again
Alas "technical difficulties" got the better of my blog yesterday,in fairness it was an easy 5 miler around Clark Park listening to my live Clash cd "From Here To Eternity" on my ipod,the remarkable thing about the run was it was another run where I felt like I was having fun running again.
Leading upto Indoor Nationals I didn,t feel like training was fun,my heart just wasn,t into it and for me someone who thrives off of emotion/emotions that,s a big stumbling block to try to negotiate,I often felt like I was just going through the motions and spinning my wheels,however since last Tuesday when I officially began to prep for outdoor season my mindset and demeanor has altered dramatically,prehaps getting back to basics and doing three track workouts a week helped but even my easy/recovery runs feel like fun now which brings me to this evenings track workout.
2x1,000m,GP felt it might be prudent to modify this workout slightly from the tried and tested version I did last spring/summer,then my target times were 2.50 2.45 my starter for ten this evening 3.00 2.55,to hit 3.00 GP asked me to hit 1.12 for the opening 400m,1.12 for the second 400m{2.24@800m}and 36 seconds for the closing 200m.
Pace as ever was the key,and we all know how hit and miss that can be for me,though in fairness the other evening I felt like I did a good job,1.10 for my opening 400m,it felt comfortable,the trick now would be to hold onto that pace,remembering the error I made on repeat#2 on Monday I made sure to stay focused,1.13/2.23 at 800m, a second inside my target time,again I knew not to relax on the closing 200m,I,d have to work the turn and keep driving down the back straight,the good thing w/ this repeat is ten minutes recovery inbetween repeats,unlike my 600s when I,ve only got two and a half/three minutes so I was able to drive hard to the finish,2.57.82 a 36 second 200m,not bad and three seconds inside my target time.
I knew not to get over confident while waiting for my second repeat,just get out there and run the opening 400m smoothly and see how it,d play out,to hit 2.55 I needed back to back 1.10s and a 35 second closing 200m
1.10 again for my opening 400m it felt comfortable,the trick now would be to dodge the falling pianos that would come crashing on that second lap,focus was the watch word,stone me!1.13 again identical 400m and 800m splits on both repeats but knowing this 200m was my last 200m of the session all bets were off and so were the gloves,a 32 second final 200m to finish in 2.55.48.
Parphrasing slightly I believe my post finish comment was "have some of that"this may,ve been preceeded w/ the use of the f word ....hey my blood and oxygen were all discombobulated I don,t know if I knew what I was saying.............yeah right!!!! but seriouly I was stoked w/ my times again this evening,it,s hard not to have fun when I,m running fast again and this is only week one,I know in my blackest of pagan black heart of hearts I,m gonna get faster and stronger......and most likely more profane..................yeah baby guess who,s back!
Leading upto Indoor Nationals I didn,t feel like training was fun,my heart just wasn,t into it and for me someone who thrives off of emotion/emotions that,s a big stumbling block to try to negotiate,I often felt like I was just going through the motions and spinning my wheels,however since last Tuesday when I officially began to prep for outdoor season my mindset and demeanor has altered dramatically,prehaps getting back to basics and doing three track workouts a week helped but even my easy/recovery runs feel like fun now which brings me to this evenings track workout.
2x1,000m,GP felt it might be prudent to modify this workout slightly from the tried and tested version I did last spring/summer,then my target times were 2.50 2.45 my starter for ten this evening 3.00 2.55,to hit 3.00 GP asked me to hit 1.12 for the opening 400m,1.12 for the second 400m{2.24@800m}and 36 seconds for the closing 200m.
Pace as ever was the key,and we all know how hit and miss that can be for me,though in fairness the other evening I felt like I did a good job,1.10 for my opening 400m,it felt comfortable,the trick now would be to hold onto that pace,remembering the error I made on repeat#2 on Monday I made sure to stay focused,1.13/2.23 at 800m, a second inside my target time,again I knew not to relax on the closing 200m,I,d have to work the turn and keep driving down the back straight,the good thing w/ this repeat is ten minutes recovery inbetween repeats,unlike my 600s when I,ve only got two and a half/three minutes so I was able to drive hard to the finish,2.57.82 a 36 second 200m,not bad and three seconds inside my target time.
I knew not to get over confident while waiting for my second repeat,just get out there and run the opening 400m smoothly and see how it,d play out,to hit 2.55 I needed back to back 1.10s and a 35 second closing 200m
1.10 again for my opening 400m it felt comfortable,the trick now would be to dodge the falling pianos that would come crashing on that second lap,focus was the watch word,stone me!1.13 again identical 400m and 800m splits on both repeats but knowing this 200m was my last 200m of the session all bets were off and so were the gloves,a 32 second final 200m to finish in 2.55.48.
Parphrasing slightly I believe my post finish comment was "have some of that"this may,ve been preceeded w/ the use of the f word ....hey my blood and oxygen were all discombobulated I don,t know if I knew what I was saying.............yeah right!!!! but seriouly I was stoked w/ my times again this evening,it,s hard not to have fun when I,m running fast again and this is only week one,I know in my blackest of pagan black heart of hearts I,m gonna get faster and stronger......and most likely more profane..................yeah baby guess who,s back!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Bring The Noise
I hadn,t ran a 6x600m repeat since that ill fated nite of Dec 11th when I felt the first pangs of what was to become the stress fracture that would derail my indoor season,w/the indoor season behind me it was time to return to "The Death Zone" and I wasn,t about to stick my big toe in to test the water.....this was going to be a full blown cannonball,6x600m at 1.50 per split,the only way I,m going to regain my speed is to cain my repeats,never mind working my way up slowly it,s "have at it" time!!!!
On a grey overcast evening a long sleeved running shirt and running tights were the wardrobe choice of the day,it was a tad brisk out there at 6pm this evening and following my stretches and mile warm up it was to time to revisit"The Death Zone.......mind numbing,gut wrenching,self inflicted pain....repeat"
As always it was important to get that first repeat right,1.11 at 400m and 1.49.83 at 600m,a 38 second closing 200m,a good start.The only mistake I made all evening was to lose focus on the opening 400m on #2,I clocked 1.14 at 400m and knew I had to work hard over the final 200m but not so hard that I,d wreck my remaining 4 repeats,driving down the back straight I was treading a fine line......1.51.00,are you kidding me!!!!37 seconds for 200m.
1.13 for my 3rd 400m,plenty of focus this time around and a 36 second 200m,1.49.53,so far so good,I felt was running ecomonically,so important in repeats but twice as important in 6x600m,no point feeling good for 3 or 4 if the bottom falls out on 5 or 6
1.11 for the opening 400m,36 seconds for the closing 200m,1.47.83,a whole 2 seconds faster than repeat #1 but no time to get carried away,4 repeats more or less inside the target time is fine,but I,m running 6.
Remarkably a 1.10 at 400m,now for the trick,don,t ease up too much but also keep something in reserve for repeat#6,another 36 second 200m,1.47.00,so close I could taste it.
1.14 for the opening 400m,a tad too conservative but since this was the final 200m I could lamp it.....and lamp it I did 34 seconds to finish off in 1.48.14,5 out of 6 and had it not,ve been for a momentry lapse in concentration on repeat#2 I would,ve nailed all 6 but this was another shot in the arm for my confidence so shot to ribbons a week ago in Boston but more repeats like this and it,ll be back.
On a grey overcast evening a long sleeved running shirt and running tights were the wardrobe choice of the day,it was a tad brisk out there at 6pm this evening and following my stretches and mile warm up it was to time to revisit"The Death Zone.......mind numbing,gut wrenching,self inflicted pain....repeat"
As always it was important to get that first repeat right,1.11 at 400m and 1.49.83 at 600m,a 38 second closing 200m,a good start.The only mistake I made all evening was to lose focus on the opening 400m on #2,I clocked 1.14 at 400m and knew I had to work hard over the final 200m but not so hard that I,d wreck my remaining 4 repeats,driving down the back straight I was treading a fine line......1.51.00,are you kidding me!!!!37 seconds for 200m.
1.13 for my 3rd 400m,plenty of focus this time around and a 36 second 200m,1.49.53,so far so good,I felt was running ecomonically,so important in repeats but twice as important in 6x600m,no point feeling good for 3 or 4 if the bottom falls out on 5 or 6
1.11 for the opening 400m,36 seconds for the closing 200m,1.47.83,a whole 2 seconds faster than repeat #1 but no time to get carried away,4 repeats more or less inside the target time is fine,but I,m running 6.
Remarkably a 1.10 at 400m,now for the trick,don,t ease up too much but also keep something in reserve for repeat#6,another 36 second 200m,1.47.00,so close I could taste it.
1.14 for the opening 400m,a tad too conservative but since this was the final 200m I could lamp it.....and lamp it I did 34 seconds to finish off in 1.48.14,5 out of 6 and had it not,ve been for a momentry lapse in concentration on repeat#2 I would,ve nailed all 6 but this was another shot in the arm for my confidence so shot to ribbons a week ago in Boston but more repeats like this and it,ll be back.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
The Week That Was......In Cliff Note Form.
Monday,day off,since I didn,t have the luxury of a day off of work I now had to play catch up on all the things that hadn,t been done while I was in Boston.
Tuesday back to the track,I knew I hadn,t been to my beloved Franklin Field in a while but I was gobsmacked to discover it hadn,t been since Feb 27th and I hadn,t done a track workout since March 2nd.....JAYSUS!!!!!!!!!!!
Mile warm up,mile of strides,8x50m,mile cool down,enjoyed my 50m repeats,I think it was Tom Cruise in ''Top Gun" who said"I feel the need for speed"and that,s me right now the only way to get back to where I was last summer is to cain the bejaysus out of my three track workouts per week.
Wednesday Easy 5 miles around Clark Park,w/ my beloved Iron Maiden set to play on June 17th it was time to throw some live Maiden on the olde ipod and have at it!!!!
Thursday another track workout,mile warm up,8x150m then an easy 300m at 1.20 pace w/ a crushing final 100m thrown in at the end b4 the always mile cool down.
Tuesdays 50m were untimed,GP wanted me to work on form but today the old trusy stop watch was in full effect 1st 3 150m @24 secs,4th-6th@22 sec,7th @21.5,8th@20 secs
22.04,21.92,21.82 for the opening set,faster than needed but again just feeling that I can actually run fast is such a rush for me right now not to mention a shot of much need confidence after last weekend
22.26,23.46,22.81 for the second set, I,m miffed at the second one because an oblivious runner in lane 5 cost me dearly on that one,I,ll spare you all the diatribe I used in my email to GP after the workout regarding the matter,lets just say hell hath no fury like a runner forced to miss a repeat split because another runner doesn,t get out of the way!
22.29 for #7,21.35 for #8,down on where I was aiming for and YES it,s soooo bleedin obvious that HAD I,ve ran the opening set at pace I,d have had the chops for the final two at pace.....I,ve never read Prust and I can,t read pace either!!!!
A fact borne out on the final repeat,80 second pace for the opening 300m went to 65 secs and then I cained the closing 100m in 15.49.
Friday easy 3 miler around Clark Park w/ a few light strides thrown in to ready myself for tomorrows race
Saturday 4x400m relay,following last weeks bitter disappoinment I wanted/needed a good race to restore my confidence,I opted against running either the mile or 800m in addition to the relay,I tend to treat relays w/ the respect they warrent and go to the meet to run a relay and relay alone.
We{Chuck,Rick and Daryl and I}were treating today as a rehearsel for Penn Relays in three weeks time,we ran a 3.55.6 which I believe we,ll run faster than at Penn.
For me a 57 sec split,I,m pleased w/ that.....for now,I want to be faster and better come Penn,not only did I get that shot of confidence today I regained that enjoyment side to my running that was so missing leading up Indoor Nationals,the slate has been wiped clean it,s outdoor season now a whole new ball game.
Sunday an easy 4 miler around Clark Park w/ Keane,s "Hopes And Fears" on the ipod,20 miles for the week and a whole weeks worth of training on the books.
This was my "transition" week,starting tomorrow it,s week 1 of the 2 week cycle GP and I agreed on,I,ll go back to my tried and tested 6x600m,2x1,000m and 4x1mile repeats for week 1,GP will give me workouts for week 2 and we,ll go from there.
As I walked home from Clark Park after todays easy 4 miles Keane,s "Can,t Stop Now" happened to be playing,the final refrain of that song goes"the motion keeps my heart running",yes dear reader/readers I,m back to training,writing my blog and quoting lyrics,all is good in the universe again
Tuesday back to the track,I knew I hadn,t been to my beloved Franklin Field in a while but I was gobsmacked to discover it hadn,t been since Feb 27th and I hadn,t done a track workout since March 2nd.....JAYSUS!!!!!!!!!!!
Mile warm up,mile of strides,8x50m,mile cool down,enjoyed my 50m repeats,I think it was Tom Cruise in ''Top Gun" who said"I feel the need for speed"and that,s me right now the only way to get back to where I was last summer is to cain the bejaysus out of my three track workouts per week.
Wednesday Easy 5 miles around Clark Park,w/ my beloved Iron Maiden set to play on June 17th it was time to throw some live Maiden on the olde ipod and have at it!!!!
Thursday another track workout,mile warm up,8x150m then an easy 300m at 1.20 pace w/ a crushing final 100m thrown in at the end b4 the always mile cool down.
Tuesdays 50m were untimed,GP wanted me to work on form but today the old trusy stop watch was in full effect 1st 3 150m @24 secs,4th-6th@22 sec,7th @21.5,8th@20 secs
22.04,21.92,21.82 for the opening set,faster than needed but again just feeling that I can actually run fast is such a rush for me right now not to mention a shot of much need confidence after last weekend
22.26,23.46,22.81 for the second set, I,m miffed at the second one because an oblivious runner in lane 5 cost me dearly on that one,I,ll spare you all the diatribe I used in my email to GP after the workout regarding the matter,lets just say hell hath no fury like a runner forced to miss a repeat split because another runner doesn,t get out of the way!
22.29 for #7,21.35 for #8,down on where I was aiming for and YES it,s soooo bleedin obvious that HAD I,ve ran the opening set at pace I,d have had the chops for the final two at pace.....I,ve never read Prust and I can,t read pace either!!!!
A fact borne out on the final repeat,80 second pace for the opening 300m went to 65 secs and then I cained the closing 100m in 15.49.
Friday easy 3 miler around Clark Park w/ a few light strides thrown in to ready myself for tomorrows race
Saturday 4x400m relay,following last weeks bitter disappoinment I wanted/needed a good race to restore my confidence,I opted against running either the mile or 800m in addition to the relay,I tend to treat relays w/ the respect they warrent and go to the meet to run a relay and relay alone.
We{Chuck,Rick and Daryl and I}were treating today as a rehearsel for Penn Relays in three weeks time,we ran a 3.55.6 which I believe we,ll run faster than at Penn.
For me a 57 sec split,I,m pleased w/ that.....for now,I want to be faster and better come Penn,not only did I get that shot of confidence today I regained that enjoyment side to my running that was so missing leading up Indoor Nationals,the slate has been wiped clean it,s outdoor season now a whole new ball game.
Sunday an easy 4 miler around Clark Park w/ Keane,s "Hopes And Fears" on the ipod,20 miles for the week and a whole weeks worth of training on the books.
This was my "transition" week,starting tomorrow it,s week 1 of the 2 week cycle GP and I agreed on,I,ll go back to my tried and tested 6x600m,2x1,000m and 4x1mile repeats for week 1,GP will give me workouts for week 2 and we,ll go from there.
As I walked home from Clark Park after todays easy 4 miles Keane,s "Can,t Stop Now" happened to be playing,the final refrain of that song goes"the motion keeps my heart running",yes dear reader/readers I,m back to training,writing my blog and quoting lyrics,all is good in the universe again
Requiem For A Dream
A week after the fact I can bring myself to write this,in truth I was busy this week hence why I,m only now getting around to Nationals and a cliff notes version of my week,the only problem w/ falling behind on the blog is it,s a bugger to get caught up and while Indoor Nationals could easily be summed up in one word...............begins w/ an S rhymes w/ day and nite here goes!!!
The 3,000m never really got going,an opening 38 sec lap and 1.15 at 2 laps had me in contention at the rear of the lead pack,however when the lead 5 broke the race wide open I soon found myself in no mans land,no mans land in an indoor 800m or mile is one thing,over 15 laps for a 3,000m please.
Stepping off the track was NEVER an option,had I come all this way and gone through all the upheavals of the week to jack in in now.......hell no,I saw it through to it,s conclusion,a very disappointing 10.01.65.11th of 13 runners AND GP beat me!!!!!
After the race GP & I agreed I wouldn,t waste any more time w/ the 3,000m it was time to get back to the basics of the 8oom/1,500m/mile w/ the odd 4x400m relay thrown in along the way,my hopes of going to Haywards Field this July to run the Masters exhibition 3,000m during the Olympic trials like"phoney beatlemania had bitten the dust"one day I hope to run at famed Haywards Field but it won,t be this year and it won,t be during the Olympic Trials.
One final thought/observation on the 3,000m,while todays 10.01.65 had fallen well short of not only the 9.30 quallifying mark but also the 9.25 club record it was a dramatic improvement on the bloody woeful 12.47.41 I ran on Feb 4th,glass half full baby.
The 800m was ALWAYS gonna be tough,4 guys more than capable of running between 2.02-2.04 and me languishing well back w/ a "seasons best" of 2.13,the words arse,plate and served sounded about right and in running as is in life I had choices,shrug my shoulders and resign myself to defeat b4 the gun was fired or go for it and do my best................you know me and plan b!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seeded 8th of 12 runners I at least got on the outside of the starting line and for once got a clear start from the gun,5th after the first turn I was comfortable on the outside of lane 1,29 secs at 200m and 1.01 at 400m...........and then the bleedin Stienway piano landed on my back,the 3rd lap of the indoor 800m is a killer and it killed me today,I drifted back to 9th and only reclaimed 8th going into the final turn when the 7th seeded runner pulled up w/ what looked like a pulled hamstring.
8th in 2.12.82........ohh a seasons best,scuse me while I stop typing and burst into a spontaneous Irish jig.......................
Again trying to salvage something from a very disappointing race I at least can look myself in the mirror and say I ran an honest race and went for it rather than run up the white flag.
To come away from my first Nationals w/ out a medal is NOT something that sits well,hindsight that most wonderful of things proved that while 8 weeks to get ready for Indoor Nationals was one thing it was the proverbial horse of a different colour to be able to come to Boston and be competitive.
Gerry Farnam who was one of Eamonn,s coaches once said of his charge"you may beat Eamonn once but you won,t beat him twice"someone also said of my first sporting hero Jimmy Connors "Jimmy takes defeats like a fighter takes takes losing a tooth"sitting in Logan airport waiting for my flight back to Philly a piece of one of my teeth broke off,I,ll take that omen and not only run to the bank w/ it but also keep running till I get to Spokane in August for Outdoor Nationals.....stopping off at dentists only if need be!
The 3,000m never really got going,an opening 38 sec lap and 1.15 at 2 laps had me in contention at the rear of the lead pack,however when the lead 5 broke the race wide open I soon found myself in no mans land,no mans land in an indoor 800m or mile is one thing,over 15 laps for a 3,000m please.
Stepping off the track was NEVER an option,had I come all this way and gone through all the upheavals of the week to jack in in now.......hell no,I saw it through to it,s conclusion,a very disappointing 10.01.65.11th of 13 runners AND GP beat me!!!!!
After the race GP & I agreed I wouldn,t waste any more time w/ the 3,000m it was time to get back to the basics of the 8oom/1,500m/mile w/ the odd 4x400m relay thrown in along the way,my hopes of going to Haywards Field this July to run the Masters exhibition 3,000m during the Olympic trials like"phoney beatlemania had bitten the dust"one day I hope to run at famed Haywards Field but it won,t be this year and it won,t be during the Olympic Trials.
One final thought/observation on the 3,000m,while todays 10.01.65 had fallen well short of not only the 9.30 quallifying mark but also the 9.25 club record it was a dramatic improvement on the bloody woeful 12.47.41 I ran on Feb 4th,glass half full baby.
The 800m was ALWAYS gonna be tough,4 guys more than capable of running between 2.02-2.04 and me languishing well back w/ a "seasons best" of 2.13,the words arse,plate and served sounded about right and in running as is in life I had choices,shrug my shoulders and resign myself to defeat b4 the gun was fired or go for it and do my best................you know me and plan b!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seeded 8th of 12 runners I at least got on the outside of the starting line and for once got a clear start from the gun,5th after the first turn I was comfortable on the outside of lane 1,29 secs at 200m and 1.01 at 400m...........and then the bleedin Stienway piano landed on my back,the 3rd lap of the indoor 800m is a killer and it killed me today,I drifted back to 9th and only reclaimed 8th going into the final turn when the 7th seeded runner pulled up w/ what looked like a pulled hamstring.
8th in 2.12.82........ohh a seasons best,scuse me while I stop typing and burst into a spontaneous Irish jig.......................
Again trying to salvage something from a very disappointing race I at least can look myself in the mirror and say I ran an honest race and went for it rather than run up the white flag.
To come away from my first Nationals w/ out a medal is NOT something that sits well,hindsight that most wonderful of things proved that while 8 weeks to get ready for Indoor Nationals was one thing it was the proverbial horse of a different colour to be able to come to Boston and be competitive.
Gerry Farnam who was one of Eamonn,s coaches once said of his charge"you may beat Eamonn once but you won,t beat him twice"someone also said of my first sporting hero Jimmy Connors "Jimmy takes defeats like a fighter takes takes losing a tooth"sitting in Logan airport waiting for my flight back to Philly a piece of one of my teeth broke off,I,ll take that omen and not only run to the bank w/ it but also keep running till I get to Spokane in August for Outdoor Nationals.....stopping off at dentists only if need be!
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