W/ my bag packed and my plane ticket in hand I,ll be out the door to Boston in an hour on my way to Indoor Nationals,something that didn,t seem possible 2 weeks ago,muchless 14 weeks ago when I limped off the track in Maryland w/ a stress fracture.
It,s been a long and at times exasperating build up,my lack of blog updates since March 17th was not a result of overdoing it on St Paddys Day,more a question of if I,d even bother going to Boston,w/out going into too much detail lets just say my demons have been locked away and the old adage about life,lemoms and lemonade rings true!!!!
When I step on that track this afternoon for the 3,000m it,ll be a result of God,s grace and GP,s insistance,they never gave up on me when at times I,d given up on myself,Monday was the first day I felt I ran w/ some desire and purpose in weeks and at long last I felt my heart was into this,I thrive off of emotion,be it good or bad,for a few weeks I felt like my heart wasn,t in it which probably accounted for some of my problems,hindsight is a wonderful thing but I look back to that ill fated back to back schedule at The Armory and Ursinus on March 7th and 8th as the catalyst of my recent woes.
Again w/out going into too much detail what,s done is done,all negatives have been banished from my mind{except the hope of negative splits!!!}what I may lack in my physical form I hope to make up for w/ my heart,courage,determination and if need be sheer bloody mindedness,the goal going into Indoor Nationals was to lower my pr in the 3,000m 9.35 and in doing so hopefully lower the club record 9.25,a bronze in the 800m would feel like a gold{last year it actually was!!!}all things considered,in both races I,ll have my work cut out for me but if I didn,t think I could do it I wouldn,t be going and that mindset is a compleat 360 from 2 weeks ago when I just felt like I was going through the motions and spinning my wheels.
It remains to be seen what this weekend has in store for me,right now my focus is on the 3,000m once I,ve ran that this evening I,ll start to get my head around the 800m on Sunday and come Monday I hope to sit down and account for my weekend pr/club record/bronze or not,much has happened recently some of which I can explain some of which I can,t but ever the poster child for a lyrical quote I,ll leave you w/ this from Oasis,s "Lord Don,t Slow me Down''
"It,s alright don,t be afraid,you,ve gotta keep dreaming in the bed you,ve made"
Slainte
Friday, March 28, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Pale,Paddy And Proud/Shamrocks And Shenanigans
A week,they say is a long time in politics,it,s also a long time in running.Following my 7 miler last Monday I found myself laid up and under the weather untill Friday when I began to train again w/ back to back 5 milers Fri and Sat.
Sadly Sundays fartlek run didn,t quite go as planned as I just felt I couldn,t get going and the first negative thoughts re Indoor Nationals began to manifest themselves.
Going into todays 6 miler there is still a sense of uncertainty regarding Boston and Indoor Nationals and while midnight tonite marks the first deadline for entries I still have a few days to weigh up the pros and cons b4 making a final decision.
W/ a few days in the company of my sister Lynn and brother in law Chris to look forward to I hope to find that spark to galvinize me towards Boston but maybe the launch pad could be today,St Patrick,s Day.
I come from a long line of Irishmen and women,my parents,grandparents,great grandparents and beyond all proud paddies whos memories I,d somehow sully if I didn,t celebrate March 17th,and while I distance myself from the masses w/ their green John Deere tshirts and even more offensive green beer{NO self respecting Irishman or woman will be caught dead drinking green beer thank you very much!}I celebrate in my own way,The Pogues on my ipod during my run,Potato soup and Corn Beef sandwiches for dinner,washed down w/ a few Mountain Dews and The Irish In America on The History Channel,ERIN GO BRAGH.
My final words come from my all time favourite Pogues song"Thousands Are Sailing" a song dedicated to those who over the centuries have come to America to seek a better life for themselves and I dedicate it to any of my forefathers who were not as fortunate as I
"Where,re we go we celebrate the land that makes us refugees from fear of priests w/ empty plates,from guilt and weaping effigies and we dance to the music and we dance"
Slanite
Sadly Sundays fartlek run didn,t quite go as planned as I just felt I couldn,t get going and the first negative thoughts re Indoor Nationals began to manifest themselves.
Going into todays 6 miler there is still a sense of uncertainty regarding Boston and Indoor Nationals and while midnight tonite marks the first deadline for entries I still have a few days to weigh up the pros and cons b4 making a final decision.
W/ a few days in the company of my sister Lynn and brother in law Chris to look forward to I hope to find that spark to galvinize me towards Boston but maybe the launch pad could be today,St Patrick,s Day.
I come from a long line of Irishmen and women,my parents,grandparents,great grandparents and beyond all proud paddies whos memories I,d somehow sully if I didn,t celebrate March 17th,and while I distance myself from the masses w/ their green John Deere tshirts and even more offensive green beer{NO self respecting Irishman or woman will be caught dead drinking green beer thank you very much!}I celebrate in my own way,The Pogues on my ipod during my run,Potato soup and Corn Beef sandwiches for dinner,washed down w/ a few Mountain Dews and The Irish In America on The History Channel,ERIN GO BRAGH.
My final words come from my all time favourite Pogues song"Thousands Are Sailing" a song dedicated to those who over the centuries have come to America to seek a better life for themselves and I dedicate it to any of my forefathers who were not as fortunate as I
"Where,re we go we celebrate the land that makes us refugees from fear of priests w/ empty plates,from guilt and weaping effigies and we dance to the music and we dance"
Slanite
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Running Free
W/ only two weeks of really hard workouts left b4 Indoor Nationals it was important to jump start my week.
In keeping w/ recent weeks GP had me begin the week w/ a 7 miler,I must confess the more often I,ve ran 14 loops of Clark Park the easier it,s gotten.......also it,s good practise for the 3,000m indoors at 15 laps.
Continuing where I left off yesterday I sellected Iron Maiden as my music du jour,and why not it is afterall when I came up w/ the name for my blog.
A funny thing about the song"Running Free",it,s not particularly one of my fav Maiden songs,for that we,d be talking "Fear Of The Dark"especially the live version but obviously the title and the fact I,m a huge Maiden fan made naming my blog after it a no brainer
So there I am 6 laps into my 14 laps and the live version of "Running Free" pops up on my ipod it,s almost 9 mins long w/ Bruce Dickenson really getting the crowd into it,I,ve said numerous times in my life often a live version of what was orginally an ok album/cd track can transform a song into something else,this evening proves that point once again and by the time the final track of disc 2 of"The Essential Iron Maiden" has faded out I,m all done my 7 miler,7 miles and full of smiles, a nice way to kick off the week.
In keeping w/ recent weeks GP had me begin the week w/ a 7 miler,I must confess the more often I,ve ran 14 loops of Clark Park the easier it,s gotten.......also it,s good practise for the 3,000m indoors at 15 laps.
Continuing where I left off yesterday I sellected Iron Maiden as my music du jour,and why not it is afterall when I came up w/ the name for my blog.
A funny thing about the song"Running Free",it,s not particularly one of my fav Maiden songs,for that we,d be talking "Fear Of The Dark"especially the live version but obviously the title and the fact I,m a huge Maiden fan made naming my blog after it a no brainer
So there I am 6 laps into my 14 laps and the live version of "Running Free" pops up on my ipod it,s almost 9 mins long w/ Bruce Dickenson really getting the crowd into it,I,ve said numerous times in my life often a live version of what was orginally an ok album/cd track can transform a song into something else,this evening proves that point once again and by the time the final track of disc 2 of"The Essential Iron Maiden" has faded out I,m all done my 7 miler,7 miles and full of smiles, a nice way to kick off the week.
Seeing Double
While I openly welcome Daylight Savings w/ both arms,did it have to be this weekend?Already sleep deprived from the New York/Ursinus double the last thing I needed was an hours less sleep,I,m sure I,ll feel differently as the week progresses and my evening workouts are compleated in daylight but for now crawling out from under the comforter at officially 9am,technically 10am was not high up on my things to give thanks for.
Semi sleep deprived and semi grouchy from the events of Ursinus it was all I could do to get off the futon get dressed and run,rare that I hurt my hand patting myself on the back but I was proud of myself for getting out there and putting in three miles,w/ that taken care of I could look forward to the other business of the day.............................or so I thought!!!!!!
Such was my frustration when I got home yesterday that I didn,t touch base w/ GP,to be fair I didn,t want to talk w/ anybody it wasn,t a matter of ducking my coach cos I,d ran a bad race,anyway when we finally caught up w/ each other late afternoon GP asked if I,d ran this morning,I was quiet pleased to say"yes I went out and ran 3 miles"especially as I didn,t want to run at all but like all good coaches they want to get the best out of their athletes,so I was dispatched to Clark Park again for a second three miler.
I was told I could curse him out all I liked while doing so,it never came to that,just like the other week when I,d bombed on the track on my 3x1,200m the nite b4 and didn,t want to run the next day GP convinced me otherwise and I felt I benefited from that nudge in the right direction so it was back on w/ my running gear and back out the door to run another 3 miles,nobody ever said getting ready for Indoor Nationals off an abbreviated season was going to be easy!!!
Semi sleep deprived and semi grouchy from the events of Ursinus it was all I could do to get off the futon get dressed and run,rare that I hurt my hand patting myself on the back but I was proud of myself for getting out there and putting in three miles,w/ that taken care of I could look forward to the other business of the day.............................or so I thought!!!!!!
Such was my frustration when I got home yesterday that I didn,t touch base w/ GP,to be fair I didn,t want to talk w/ anybody it wasn,t a matter of ducking my coach cos I,d ran a bad race,anyway when we finally caught up w/ each other late afternoon GP asked if I,d ran this morning,I was quiet pleased to say"yes I went out and ran 3 miles"especially as I didn,t want to run at all but like all good coaches they want to get the best out of their athletes,so I was dispatched to Clark Park again for a second three miler.
I was told I could curse him out all I liked while doing so,it never came to that,just like the other week when I,d bombed on the track on my 3x1,200m the nite b4 and didn,t want to run the next day GP convinced me otherwise and I felt I benefited from that nudge in the right direction so it was back on w/ my running gear and back out the door to run another 3 miles,nobody ever said getting ready for Indoor Nationals off an abbreviated season was going to be easy!!!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
A Bad Day At The Office
The Lord giveth,and the Lord taketh away,after an encouraging 4.47.01 mile at The Armory last nite I went into Saturday lunch times 800m at the Mid Atlantic C,ships at Ursinus hopeful of more improvement,2 weeks ago my back to back mile/800m in Landover and Toms River yeiled times of 4.59/2.13,having taken a 12 second chunk out of that 4.59 last nite in New York I just wanted to see some improvement on Toms River,s 2.13,not a lot to ask right..............????!!!!
Hindsight they say is a wonderful thing,so,s good officiating....both were AWOL today,it,s seldom I blast the officials but today I felt they let me down twice,how do you run the womens races per event first all event long untill the 800m and then announce the mens 800m 1st heat on the track,w/out warning,you can call it sour grapes if you like but I wasn,t the only runner still in sweats/warm ups when our race was called.
Once again I was boxed out at the start and I need to get a little feistier on the starting line,by the time I shook myself clear of the pretenders, the contenders,Kyle,Pat and Scott were long gone,I had hoped to be the caboose to that engine,instead in an increasingly frustrating sense of dejavu I was in no mans land,4th in .....2.13,to quote a Bryan Adams song"Do I Have To Say The Words"
At the risk of coming off like a smacked behind I don,t want to sit here and reel off a list of the things that went against a good race/fast time today it,s a bit like when I used to play soccer on Sundays back in the day,on the days we won it didn,t matter how often the full back kicked lumps out of me,the missed/ blown calls by the ref,the missed chances....but lose and all those things mount up.
One step forward last nite,two steps back today,w/ no more races now b4 Nationals I,ve got to put all my faith and trust in my last two weeks of training begining Monday,once the send button gets pressed on this this race will be consigned to the record books w/out reference or second thought and I,ll leave it to Kate Voegele to put things in prespective:
"Don,t look away,don,t run away,hey baby it,s only life,don,t lose your faith,don,t run away,baby it,s only life"
Hindsight they say is a wonderful thing,so,s good officiating....both were AWOL today,it,s seldom I blast the officials but today I felt they let me down twice,how do you run the womens races per event first all event long untill the 800m and then announce the mens 800m 1st heat on the track,w/out warning,you can call it sour grapes if you like but I wasn,t the only runner still in sweats/warm ups when our race was called.
Once again I was boxed out at the start and I need to get a little feistier on the starting line,by the time I shook myself clear of the pretenders, the contenders,Kyle,Pat and Scott were long gone,I had hoped to be the caboose to that engine,instead in an increasingly frustrating sense of dejavu I was in no mans land,4th in .....2.13,to quote a Bryan Adams song"Do I Have To Say The Words"
At the risk of coming off like a smacked behind I don,t want to sit here and reel off a list of the things that went against a good race/fast time today it,s a bit like when I used to play soccer on Sundays back in the day,on the days we won it didn,t matter how often the full back kicked lumps out of me,the missed/ blown calls by the ref,the missed chances....but lose and all those things mount up.
One step forward last nite,two steps back today,w/ no more races now b4 Nationals I,ve got to put all my faith and trust in my last two weeks of training begining Monday,once the send button gets pressed on this this race will be consigned to the record books w/out reference or second thought and I,ll leave it to Kate Voegele to put things in prespective:
"Don,t look away,don,t run away,hey baby it,s only life,don,t lose your faith,don,t run away,baby it,s only life"
The Magic May Be Missing,But The Thrill Is Still The Same
I could reel off a laundry list of things my stress fracture has cost me,speed,strenght,stamina,confidence and somewhere on that list would also be running at my beloved Armory in New York City.
It,s a little over two years now since I made my Armory debut at the MAC C,ships a love affair began that nite that has since continued,some of my best races and best times have been ran on this track and tonite saw me belatedly make my way upto 168th St and Fort Washington for a final chance to race there this indoor season.
I opted for the mile dispite the fact I,m not racing the mile in Boston at Indoor Nationals in three weeks time,GP has always supported my choice to run the 3,000m/800m double at Nationals and when we first began to plan for that right after Millrose it was jointly felt that of my 4 pre Nationals races/2 back to back meets that keeping the mile in there would serve it,s purpose in prep for the unique double I want to take on.....besides I love running the mile......and running an indoor mile...........................
Coming off of a semi disappointing 4.59 mile in Landover 2 weeks ago I was looking for a major improvement and seeded myself at 4.40 which earnt me 9th seed of 12 runners in the opening heat,using the california start I was on the outside of the track from the gun b4 the brake line just off the first bend,as the opening lap shook it,s self out I was probably in 7th going into the second turn,a 35 sec opening lap and it felt comfortable,ditto for a second 35 sec 200m,I,m not 100% sure of my 600m split but I went through 800m in 2.20,averaging 35 secs per lap.
From here on in it began to get a little tougher,I was not only relegated to 8th but then found myself cast adrift in no mans land again just like Landover 2 weeks ago,I don,t recall my final 4 splits,I do recall not having the will to fight for 8th spot going down the back straight which is SO NOT ME,minor places be damned I,m used to be able to dig deep at the business end of a race but I,m just not there yet........more,s the pity.
9th in 4.47.01 a 12 second improvement on Landover and the feeling I am at least moving forward,albeit slower than I would hope for,my 4.47.01 was at least good enough for a bronze in my age group so thankfully I didn,t leave The Armory or NYC empty handed.
It,s a little over two years now since I made my Armory debut at the MAC C,ships a love affair began that nite that has since continued,some of my best races and best times have been ran on this track and tonite saw me belatedly make my way upto 168th St and Fort Washington for a final chance to race there this indoor season.
I opted for the mile dispite the fact I,m not racing the mile in Boston at Indoor Nationals in three weeks time,GP has always supported my choice to run the 3,000m/800m double at Nationals and when we first began to plan for that right after Millrose it was jointly felt that of my 4 pre Nationals races/2 back to back meets that keeping the mile in there would serve it,s purpose in prep for the unique double I want to take on.....besides I love running the mile......and running an indoor mile...........................
Coming off of a semi disappointing 4.59 mile in Landover 2 weeks ago I was looking for a major improvement and seeded myself at 4.40 which earnt me 9th seed of 12 runners in the opening heat,using the california start I was on the outside of the track from the gun b4 the brake line just off the first bend,as the opening lap shook it,s self out I was probably in 7th going into the second turn,a 35 sec opening lap and it felt comfortable,ditto for a second 35 sec 200m,I,m not 100% sure of my 600m split but I went through 800m in 2.20,averaging 35 secs per lap.
From here on in it began to get a little tougher,I was not only relegated to 8th but then found myself cast adrift in no mans land again just like Landover 2 weeks ago,I don,t recall my final 4 splits,I do recall not having the will to fight for 8th spot going down the back straight which is SO NOT ME,minor places be damned I,m used to be able to dig deep at the business end of a race but I,m just not there yet........more,s the pity.
9th in 4.47.01 a 12 second improvement on Landover and the feeling I am at least moving forward,albeit slower than I would hope for,my 4.47.01 was at least good enough for a bronze in my age group so thankfully I didn,t leave The Armory or NYC empty handed.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Running Around{Clark Park}W/ Missy Higgins
Nice easy day b4 the serious stuff this weekend,another glorious day w/ the weather and while I don,t think old man winter is done w/ us just yet it,s hard not to get excited about spring being just around the corner,I,ll willingly lose an an hour of sleep this Sunday to gain an extra hour of daylite in the evenings.
After a spate of missed opportunties I look to be heading to my first gig of the year on Tuesday,Missy Higgins at World Cafe Live hence why she was on my ipod this evening,there,s something quite relaxing about her piano driven songs that made for ideal listening on such an easy run,however w/ the tempo going up several notches tomorrow in New York and again Saturday in Ursinus I doubt she,ll get much of a look in on my ipod again till Sunday when I look to ease my way through whatever recovery run GP has in mind for me.
Tomorrow excites me,New York,The Armory,so often a big nite for me last season,having been denied the chance to race there this season untill now the second to last meet available I have alot of making up to do,here,s hoping it,s a spectacular nite
After a spate of missed opportunties I look to be heading to my first gig of the year on Tuesday,Missy Higgins at World Cafe Live hence why she was on my ipod this evening,there,s something quite relaxing about her piano driven songs that made for ideal listening on such an easy run,however w/ the tempo going up several notches tomorrow in New York and again Saturday in Ursinus I doubt she,ll get much of a look in on my ipod again till Sunday when I look to ease my way through whatever recovery run GP has in mind for me.
Tomorrow excites me,New York,The Armory,so often a big nite for me last season,having been denied the chance to race there this season untill now the second to last meet available I have alot of making up to do,here,s hoping it,s a spectacular nite
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