Top Cat,s Top Ten Races 08

For the third year in a row I sit here b4 you to list my top ten races,even in an injury shortened year{32 races between Feb 1st thro Dec 28th} I had to sit and go over the entire year to not only pick ten races but also put them in order.....submitted for your approval a trip into the Top Cat Zone!!!!

10, University Of Deleware 800m,my first outdoor non relay race of the season,I went in hoping to run a respectable 2.06,I came away w/ a 2.03.07. 3rd place finish and the belife that I could be a medal contender at Nationals in Spokane in three months time,all great journys begin somewhere my 08 season began here.

9,Swarthmore 800m,having failed to get under 2.10 over 800m indoors in Feb and March this December 21st 2.03.01. performance told me dispite a frustrating lack of speed work in recent weeks I was back to the 800m indoor prowess I,d shown in 07.

8,NJ C,ship 8k XC dispite high caliber xc races over 5k and 6k there were those who felt at the longer 8k distance I was punching above my weight....they thought wrong!!!

While I didn,t claim a club record or course record I did set a pr and take top masters finisher w/ my 8th place 28.16.62.

7,Penn Relays 4x4,three years in and the thrill is still very much still there!

Thanks to an Olympic year the crowd swelled to 49,000 which will always do wonders for your performance,thanks to Daryl overtaking the Shore AC third leg coming off the final turn I got the baton in 7th and began to give chase to the anchor legs of Mass Volocity and Alabama Express.

Coming off the final turn and w/ real estate running out I caught and passed the Mass Velocity anchor,6th overall in 3.49 and a 55.1 split.

6,NJ C,ships 1,500m,my only mile/1,500m defeat in the outdoor season and I still believe had I,ve kicked at 200m to go and gone for the win instead of kicking at 150m in hope of moving from 4th to 3rd I would,ve caught the winner,that said it was an epic final turn and home straight!!!

5,Masters 5k XC C,ship,a race I wasn,t originally scheduled to run and a race I probably had no right expecting a great return on...............that,s why they call me"Prime Time"baby!!!!

9th overall in 16.49.4,sadly like Saratoga b4 it the course in N.Carolina was just short of 5k so I couldn,t claim this as a sub 17 5k,that said it was still a great performance.

4,Millrose 4x4,the race I,d dreamt of all my life was not about to be derailed by a pesky stress fracture let me tell ya!!!

Much has been said of this race since it took place 0n Feb 1st and yet it still feels like yesterday,to race the same hallowed boards my "holy trilogy" of heroes Ronnie,Marcus and "The Chairman" still means EVERYTHING to me I just wish my lack of conditioning hadn,t cost us the bronze...............but I,ll be back to claim what,s due to me in 09 or 10....trust me on that!

3,Masters Nationals 800m,just like I wish I could rerun the closing 200m of the NJ Cship 1,500m I wish I could rerun the second lap of this race.

In my mind it was always going to come down to a duel between Neil Fitzgerald and I and it was always going to be about the 400m split,61 seconds, slower than I,d been going through my opening laps since Deleware so I put the hammer down,the problem w/ that was w/ 400m to go Neil had time to react and regroup and he caught me 60m from the line,an epic race 1.59.51-1.59.82.to have been beaten by the younger faster runner on the day was no disgrace.

2,5th Avenue Mile,to have won it in 07 was beyond my wildest dreams, to return 12 months later and not only defend my title but also obliterate my pr from 4.25 to 4.12 thanks to splits of 64,64,63,61 and a 1,500m split of 3.56. is something that,ll stay w/ me forever,but believe me I,m not done yet!!

1,Masters Nationals 1,500m,going into Spokane I had hopes of returning w/ two National Champion golds{not including the 4x800m}if however I could only have one I,d have picked the 1,500m over the 800m dispite being defending 800m champion since I,d never won the big one at 1,500m not even in high school,runner up in 78 and 79.

If I,d kicked too soon in the previous days 800m final I got it balls dead accurate in the 1,500m unleashing a ferocious kick w/ 200m to go to claim my first major 1,500m title in a pr time of 4.10.78.while it would,ve been nice to have gone sub 4.10 that,ll come in time this was about saviouring the moment and the victory.

One Last Time/Food For Thought

Final run of the year today,wasn,t looking too hopeful at lunch time w/ some snow flakes falling but by the time I,d excused myself one last time from ye olde loading dock and got home just after 4pm mild mannered{yes I,m taking the piss!!} loading dock foreman by day gave way to running machine Top Cat and while I wasn,t clearing tall buildings w/ a single bound I was rounding Clark Park at a decent rate of speed one last time in 08.
As I compleated my tour of duty I thought about the year that,s about to expire in less than three and and a half hours it started w/ my foot in a cast and a few concerns about making it back to the high level I,d reached pre stress fracture in 07 and would I return to that level?
The answer was a resounding yes,dispite being only two days removed from my surgical boot I forfilled the dream of a lifetime and raced at famed Madison Square Garden in the Millrose Games,a dream come true,sadly a not surprizing lack of conditioning cost us third place off the final turn but I had no grounds to complain,I had no right being there and yet there I was flying in the face of it and defying the odds.
Millrose proved to be the only highlite of my disappointing indoor season, I was glad to see the back of it and turn my attention to outdoor track,Penn Relays in front of almost 50,000 fans was another highlite reel not just for the year but in my career.
4x4 duties taken care of it was time to focus on my marquee events the 800m and 1,500m/mile and how!!!
A 2.03.07 800m followed by a pair of 1,500m victories in 4.21 and 4.14 took me into June on a high that never waned,when a 2.03.72 800m is considered a setback you know you,re cooking,my only 1,500m/mile defeat of the outdoor season saw me clock a 4.12.65. b4 clocking a 2.02.45. 800m.
July saw two final races b4 my trip to Ireland and also my final tune ups b4 Nationals a 4.28.9 mile and a 2.00 800m,no wonder I enjoyed a weeks worth of running along the beach in Ballybunion humming the theme to "Chariots Of Fire"
August and everything in Spokane, a tantilizingly close defeat in the 800m final 1.59.51-1.59.82 but a career first 1,500m title in 4.10.78. and a third consecutive 4x800m gold,track was winding down as I began my yearly six weeks of hill repeats on Belmont Plateau,track swansong a 4.31.83. mile at the Wisahickon Wanderers meet.
September and all my hard work for the season paid off, a stunning 4.12 5th Avenue Mile victory to cement my growing reputation as a masters miler and then the unexpected bonus of a XC season I never imagined, a 6k pr b4 heading down to N.Carolina to compeat in XC Masters Nationals where against all odds I finished 9th,three days later I finished 3rd at the Catholic League 5k C,ships on Belmont Plateau b4 notching another pr this time over 8k at the NJ XC C,ships,as my coach "Charlie Dibble" later pointed out my success at XC was all the more remarkable by virtue of the fact we,d done nothing specific towards XC and yet here I was clocking pr,s and setting club records.
November, redemption over the 5 mile course at VCP in "Bad Boy" followed by a sub 17 3 miler the following week,sadly the peak of my XC season dispite two more races later in the month,just as my stress fracture had proven how life can and will throw you a curve ball my work schedule was thrown for a loop as situations out of my control dictated my day to day routines,dispite the industrial spanner in the works I managed an 8th place at Brandywine and a course pr b4 a 6th place at the testing 8K Belmont course.
December,indoor track,not so much a false start in the 4x4 more of a non start but a week later when improvisation became the mother of necessity I clocked a 2.03.01.800m a far cry from the indoor 800m races I tried to run in Feb and March b4 rounding out the year w/ a hard fought 4.39.41. 1,600m.
While my credo in life is"It,s All About The Run" away from training and racing the highlites were Spurs winning the Carling Cup,a weekend in New York to see The Cure b4 racing,going home to "the motherland" Turkey reaching the Euro semis,rediscovering my love of THE ALARM and of course meeting "The Queen Of The Slipsream"
As 08 winds down and 09 gears up thoughts turn to a new year,new challenges and new blog entries,run or no run manana I,ll address some of them tomorrow.
My final thought on the year that was goes out to the neysayers and haters{you know who you are}you can tell an Irishman,you just can,t tell him much......POGUE MAHONE,that,s gaelic for "kiss my arse"!!!!!!!!!

On The Seventh Day

My my,what do you know I got my whole run in while there was still some vestige of daylite,lost in the shuffle of the holidays last week was the fact that if I,m not mistaken after Dec 23rd it starts to get darker a little bit later,not by much at first but slowly yet surely so that,s something to get excited about.
Had Franklin Field not been off limits tonite would,ve been a good nite for a track workout,it,s looking more and more like Friday now,I fear New Year,s Day is going to be a wash for a run of any type as the mercury isn,t expected to get much above freezing,while a pisser short term I need to work in a rest day somewhere otherwise I,m looking at going into the first of the "Thursday Nite At The Races" series next week on the back of 16 days straight training,there is such a thing as overkill.
Phew hard to think tomorrow is New Year,s Eve,a whole year..plus that pesky leap year Feb 29th extra day has been and gone,some food for thought for tomorrows blog entry,the highs,the lows,the good,the bad,not too much ugly it,ll be mulled over.

E.B.S....Early Bird Special

A little slight of hand and swift of foot today meant I was home by 4pm and off to Clark Park for ye olde 5 miler,it,s gonna be a real shock to the system manana when I have to run at 4.30pm when it starts getting dark,oh well it,s been fun!
For the longest time I was under the impression that Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile was Jan 17th,it,s actually the following weekend the 24th which will allow me an extra week to get ready,it does mean I can,t run the 3,000m at #2 of "Distance Nite At The Armory"that Thursday but unless one is Barbie one can,t have everything can one!!!
Six days in a row now I,ve been able to run,all jokes aside I,m enjoying the consistancy but w/ New Years Day threatening to be only 32 degrees I may well have to invoke a rest day there and halt my streak at eight days,I had hoped to hit the track at St Joes on Thursday in a symbolic "start the year off as you mean to go "jesture,that may now have to wait till Friday.
All that said the weather could change between now and then,we,ll have to see,one thing I do know Wednesday nite my Top Ten Races of 08 will get written after weeks of humming and harring I,ve gotten not only my 32 races of the year whittled down to 10 but I,ve also put them in order.....stay tuned!

TC,s Ok In Md

Or how I laid to rest my PGI ghosts!!!
Starter for ten it ended up being a 13 hour day for less than 5 mins work,that said a road trip w/ 4 team mates and members of our "sister club"Athena can never be frowned upon even if the end result won,t make Wednesdays year ending Top Cats Top Ten list.
Off of two less than flattering performances here at PGI I was determined to put that right Sunday,I also wanted a chance to test out the new mondo surface b4 March,s Indoor Nationals ergo hitting the road by 6.30am to get down to Landover by 9.15am to run the mile.....or as it ended up a 1,600m.
By the time we finally got around to the mile/1,600m it must,ve been gone 11am,I,d stretched and warmed up and waited patiently for the open/masters heats which when they eventually came around were split into two heats,sub 5, plus 5,I should be greatful they didn,t make the masters run separately but there were 20 athletes in the sub 5 heat which is one thing but the fact they wanted to run a 1,600m and not a mile meant there was always going to be a major cluster f ** k going into the first turn,sure enough the runner inside me almost went down as we hit the turn and could quiet easily have turned the field into a house of cards,w/ hindsight the next time I,m in a race w/ that many runners going into the first turn make sure I,m all the way on the outside of the starting line.
Jesus I,ve heard of running w/ the pack but this was like running w/ the herd!!! it took me till the back straight of the third lap to get out of lane three by which time I,d opened w/ 34 second splits to clock a 68 second 400m.
By now the lead two runners were well clear as I moved clear into third, I was well and truly in no mans land as I now had to run against the clock,today would,ve been a good day to wear my new stop watch that records splits as I don,t recall my 200m splits,I do recall 2.18 at 800m.
Third in 4.39.41 w/ a 1,500m split of 4.23,I,ll aim to improve upon that Sunday at The Armory where I doubt I,ll have to race in a heat of 20,I can,t say my PGI experiences in the past 13 months have been stellar,here,s hoping in 12 weeks time at Masters Nationals that changes.

I Am The Milkman Of Human Kindness

Yes folks another training run,another bloody Billy Bragg reference!!!
Give the full slate of Boxing Day and Sunday footie fixtures I found myslf at a bit of a loose end today w/ no footie to watch,and while sorely tempted to don my Celtic jersey and head downtown to see which of the Irish bars were showing the time honoured "Old Firm"punch up......sorry match up between Celtic and rangers aka"the glasgow scum" I thought better of it,hard to be in the season of"peace on earth,goodwill to all men"when you,re shouting religious bigatory across the bar at the orange bastards rooting for rangers{sidebar Celtic won 1.0 at rangers...HA HA!!".}
A much safer practice was to finish up ye olde grocery shopping and go look at new laptops,although the latter proved to be a bit of a futile exercise what w/ the holidays and all that,clearly laptops were a hot item this xmas and rather than buy what they had for the sake of having one I,ll wait till Best Buy{shameless free plug for them...........now hook me up you feckers!!!}replenish their stock.
Another afternoon 5 miler,4 days in a row,to quote Ryan Adams"Easy Tiger",and unless something goes pear shaped on the way to PGI in Landover tomorrow morning a 5th consecutive day of running is on deck.
If tomorrow,s a race then tonite,s a carbo loading dinner,Muscles,Linguini w/ Texas Toast,a look back at the breathtaking Olympic Opening Ceromony{which I missed due to being in Spokane for Masters Nationals...my own Gold quest}and the highlites of Scott McDonald scoring the winner for Celtic.......everybody sing w/ me"oh it,s a grand old team to play for,oh it,s a grand old team to see,and if you know you,re history it,s enough to make you,re heart go........"

Boxing Day

One of the few things I miss from back home is Boxing Day,that time honoured tradition of eating leftovers and enjoying a full slate of footie.
Over the past few years I,ve somehow managed to finagle the day after Christmas off to have a pseudo Boxing Day of sorts,it looked like my run was coming to an end untill I brought up the fact I gave up two vacation days in November to bail out the loading dock at work so I was rewarded w/ days off today and next Friday,kudos to my boss Joanne for giving me those days off.
No slouchlike lying in till 10.15am this morning,no siree,up by 8am to watch Spurs Fulham, a disappointing 0.0 draw but there you go!
W/ the extra day off at my disposal I chose not to take a zen like attitude w/ the recliner and the remote and went food shopping b4 the late soccer game Villa coming back from 0.2 to draw 2.2 w/"the scum"whee!!
Off to Clark Park for another 5 miler,steady on three training days in a row,excuse me if I don,t dig out my Billy Bragg "Back To Basics"cd!!!
Rumours abound of am showers manana,I may be forced to wait till the afternoon again to run,as long as I can that,s really all that matters.