Batting A Thousand/Emil The Great

My 1,000th blog entry here on Blogspot since transferring from AOL People Connection on Nov 30th 07.
I'd like to thank everyone who reads Running Free be it on a regular or semi regular basis,I've often said writing a blog is a bit like being a late nite DJ as you can't be sure if anyone is actually listening to you,thanks to all the comments I get I know someone is reading all this so thank you...even the haters your comments just serve as fuel to the fire.

Rather than wait till tomorrow I did the online registration for Nationals today,earlier this week only 3 runners had signed up for the 5,000m and only 2 for the 10,000m,including myself the entries stand at 9 for the 5,000m and 6 for the 10,000m,we'll see what activity happens tomorrow b4 the 5pm deadline.

And so to my run,wow did I ever luck out w/ my choice of 10,000m icons,the great Emil Zatopek.
In London in 48 he took gold in the 10,000m and silver in the 5,000m b4 hitting the triple trifecta in Helsinki in 52,gold in the 5,000m,10,000m and marathon.
One of my favourite Zatopek stories is from the 52 Olympic marathon after 15k he turned to the leader and then World record holder and Jim Peters and asked him what he thought of the pace"I think it's a little slow" said Peters.....if he was trying to psych out Zatopek he failed,Zatopek took off and won the gold,Peters dropped out.
Another great Zatopek story involved Ron Clarke the Australian distance king who for all his world records only had an Olympic bronze in the 10,000m(Rome 64) to show for his efforts
In 66 Zatopek invited Clarke to Prague to race in either a 1,500m or 3,000m race,as he prepared to fly back to Australia Zatopek pressed a small package into Clarke's hand,Clarke always tells how he thought Zatopek was giving him something to smuggle out of the then occupied Czechoslovakia,upon checking the package Clarke was blown away to unwrap Zatopek's Helsinki 10,000m gold w/ the inscription"You deserve this",hard not to be impressed by such a gesture.

In the spirit of Zatopek I attacked my 6 miler tonite,early splits of 3.45,9.01,13.58 lead me to believe something fast was on tap,21.26 at the turn around,my only concern was last Monday I went out in 21.40 only to come back in 22.17 for a combined 43.57......
No such worries this evening,perhaps the fact I haven't ran a 6 milers since last Wednesday and won't run another hard 6 miler till July 19th spured me on to a negative split of 21.26/21.21 for a seasons best time of 42.47.6. a full 54 seconds faster than my June 14th 43.41.7.
I felt strong tonite,maybe all the added Vitamin C is doing the trick,as the first half of the year draws to a close tonite I hope a stronger,faster second half is on tap.

Little By Little

So a recap of last nite's 5,000m at Icahn.
Of the 14 races I've ran in the first half of the year 9 have been in New York,what can I say like a moth to the flame I'm drawn to the Big Apple.
I've been spoilt in the respect that all but one of those races were w/ a ride up and back from Sean but it felt good to get back to my roots last nite and take the Megabus to and from Manhattan and the subway to Randall's Island,big shout out to my buddy Tom Fitz for peeping that 103rd St bridge was out that would've been a boot in the balls getting there to find out I couldn't walk over,it meant going to 125th and Lexington and taking the M35 which was a bit of a ball buster but bottom line I got to Icahn w/ 25 mins to spare and back to Penn Station w/ 20 mins to spare....no harm,no foul.

Mile warm up b4 the womens 5,000m got underway which allowed me an extra 20 mins,54 men on hand so 3 heats of 18 runners,I never considered heat 2 given my times are sub par right now but I'll be curious to see the winning time from heat 2......if the results get published,my only gripe w/ the Tueday Nite Speed Series this year is a lack of results online.
Got a good start and a clear run into the first turn and came through 200m in 37 seconds and 400m in 75 seconds,I was 12th or 14th.
As the opening laps clipped off I tried to stay in contact w/ a small group of runners just ahead of me,I didn't want to end up in no mans land and came through the opening mile in 5.09.

By now I was inbroiled in my own "race w/in the race" w/ a couple of runners who helped me keep an honest pace,shades of my last 5,000m at Swarthmore in May where my time was sub par but I raced well.
10.39 at 2 miles a 5.20 mile,in spite of being a warm evening I felt comfortable,as I've become more accustomed to 5,000m races( this was my 8th in the last 14 months)
Runners were starting to come back to me over the closing laps as the on going tussle between myself and one of the Urban Athletics runners continued to swop places.
Kudos to the time keepers at 200m for calling out lap splits even if now I don't remember them,I also forget what I came through the bell in.

Down the back straight I had to move out into lane 2 to pass a runner but stayed there as the final assault w/ the UA runner was about to unfold,by focusing on him I forgot to make a mental note of my 3 mile time,if for shits and giggles it was 16.10 that would've been a 5.30 mile but I'm guessing,as it was coming up the home straight I launched a final kick to overhaul the Urban Athletics runner for 12th in 16.48.9.
Sure I'm disappointed to register my slowest time of the year but at least now I know where I stand heading into Sacramento and Worlds,I do still have 4 weeks till Berea and Nationals.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record everything I do now is geared towards the 10,000m at Nationals based on last nite I believe a sub 34 10,000m is there for the taking,where that would stack up at Nationals remains to be seen but we're going to find out soon enough.
While it's always more fun to ride shotgun in Sean's Mini on the ride home I enjoyed the ride home on the Megabus w/ my ipod and jamming to a few albums by Bryan Adams and 10,000 Maniacs as I reflected on a good nite at the races on a sub par first half of the season,let's see what the second half of the season brings?

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Due to the extreme hour(1.23am)my full post on this evenings 5,000m at Icahn will have to wait till later on today after I rack up some zzzs.
For now the cliff notes read:
12th out of 17 in 16.48.9.
Opening 200m in 37 seconds
Opening lap in 75 seconds
1st mile 5.09
2 miles in 10.39(5.30 mile)
I'm disappointed my overall time was a seasons slowest BUT everything I do now is geared towards the 10,000m at Nationals and on a wing and a prayer 16.48 could come out to a 33.36 10,000m,my pr is 34.44........
More to follow

Gun Fight At The Last Chance Saloon

Ok so that's maybe a bit over the top for tonites 5,000m race at Icahn Stadium in New York but never let it be said my blog doesn't provide a flair for the dramatic!!!

It's fair to say my 2011 outdoor season has failed to get off the ground,my season opener at Upenn on April 2nd set the tone for what it must be said has been a major disappointment this outdoor season,following a 6 week period b4 my next race at Swarthmore I went backwards even though I felt then and now I was well trained(little did I know what was going on w/ my body}when I ran another lackluster race at Ichan on May 17th I suspected something was up and the death nail was that woeful mile at Henderson on June 3rd which brings me to this evening.

I have no idea what to expect of myself tonite,that's not me being coy or hedging my bets,I just don't know what to expect,this is my first race in almost 4 weeks and my first race since discovering that my piss poor form thus far outdoors was down to low ferritin levels in my blood,it'll be interesting to see what this evening yields,it will give me an idea what to expect next Saturday in Sacramento at Worlds and maybe a pointer to the 5,000m at Nationals in 4 weeks time,wish me luck I've passed the point of turning back it's going to be what it's going to be,good,bad or ugly.

Making Plans For Nationals*

Hopefully someone will leave the light on for me!
*Not to be confused w/ the XTC song"Making Plans For Nigel".

Although my departure to Sacramento and Worlds is now just 9 days away I have to get my ducks in a row for Berea and Nationals in just over 4 weeks time.
My plans took a major hit when my wingman Sean"that's Doctor Harbison to you" had to shelve his plans to go due to a season ending pelvic fracture(ouch!!!),there went my ride and roommate in one foul swoop.
Fortunately the club{ Greater Philadelphia Track Club} tend to send a decent number of runners to Nationals each year and Chuck was gracious enough to offer me a ride up....and back to Cleveland now I just needed to find a hotel and w/in my budget.
Therein lay the problem,alot of the cheaper hotels required the fee now and between still having to pay the registration fee for Nationals by Friday plus a week in Sacramento money was in short supply.......God Bless Tom Bodett and his Motel 6 chain

Granted Motel 6s are very basic but at $39 a nite you get what you pay for.....but you don't pay for it till you check in which allows me a few more pay cheques to secure the 5 nights.
I dodged a major bullet w/ one hotel I looked at online,I won't name them but they were offering a cheaper rate than Motel 6 and while I weighed up the pros and cons of committing $209 I technically don't have right now I happened to check the customer comments.........jaysus I realize not everyone is going to like a hotel,a movie,a cd etc but this hotel got slagged off something chronic,soooooooooooooooo glad I didn't book a room there.

As is my won't the day b4 a race no run this evening but a huge brontosaurus bowl of Linguine and Clams w/ Texas Toast,got my bag ready and now it's time to put my feet up and relax b4 heading up to New York tomorrow afternoon for a 5,000m race at Icahn,not only is it my last race b4 Worlds but for several it's a final race b4 Club Nationals next weekend so it could be a lively race,as long as I can improve on my sub par times at the Upenn and Twilight meets in April and May I'll be happy.

A Little Fine Tuning

Nice easy 8 miler out and back along Cobbs Creek Parkway just after 10am this morning to round out another 35 mile week.
Conditions were overcast when I set off and I thought shades were a bit too much,however the sun came out early on into the run and frankly I could've used them but if that was the biggest issue I've had to deal w/ today or the past seven days then I've got it pretty damn good I'd have to say.

While out on my run I committed my upcoming week to paper,I usually sit down on Sunday and write out what I want the following week to look like and while often the weeks may be written "mentally" I never commit anything to paper until the week of and even then I write them in pencil just in case I need to change anything.
Case in point the need to return to the realm of 2 visits to the track per week,I had to back off from this when it was clear something was not right w/in my system and while I've not only been able to get to the root of that problem I also feel now is the time to go all Billy Bragg and get"Back To Basics".

Starting this week and for the next four weeks w/out tampering w/ my mileage as I am officially tapering for Nationals I can get 2 workouts on the track in even if for the next two weeks it means 1 race/1 repeat I can still squeeze in 6 repeats between now and July 23rd b4 departing for Berea.
Talking of Berea and Nationals this is the week all hell will brake loose in terms of who's going to Nationals,for the past few weeks I've monitored the status of entries for my age group to get an idea of who else is going,things have been slow to say the least,as of today only 3 entries for the 5,000m and 2 for the 10,000m but w/ the 5pm deadline for entries this Friday I know this time next week that'll be a different kettle of fish altogether.

Rest day tomorrow b4 heading to New York on Tuesday for the final Tuesday Nite Speed Series at Icahn Stadium,my last race b4 Worlds and I hope a chance to improve on the two Ferritin blighted 5,000s I ran in April(16.21.1) and May(16.25.9),it will also give me an idea of what I can expect of myself in Sacramento a week from Saturday b4 Nationals three weeks later.

One Step Forward,Two Steps Back.....Again!!!

It's been said a week is a long time in masters track,after the highs of last week and the fact this week for whatever reason/reasons I've failed to match what I was able to do last week I'd have to agree w/ that.
After last weeks 5.21.1-5.20.9.-5.20.3-5.17.4. I was hoping to kick on from there today w/ mile repeats again.

Following last weeks schedule of getting up at 7am,leaving for the track by 8am and arriving by 9am and all done by 10am I was up at 7am again today and out the front door by 8am to arrive at Temple's track by 8.40am,6 lap warm up b4 switching into my flats and time to have at it again.
Mile #1 1.21-1.25-1.24-1.14-5.24.8.The 1.25/1.24s in the middle of the repeat clearly hindered my hopes of a 5.20 mile,I said last week I need to eliminate those 1.24/1.25 splits if I want these 5.20 miles.
Mile #2 1.20-1.23-1.23-1.14-5.20.7.A little more like it,nice to see those 1.14s in there,getting to 5.20 is one thing,getting to 5.10,5.05,5.00 and below will require some work.
Mile #3 1.23-1.24-1.23-1.18-5.28.0.Emm..........my calves were both a little sore going into this repeat,something I didn't encounter a week ago,also if I turned those 1.23/1.24s into 1.20s I'd have been looking at 5.18,food for thought.
Mile #4 1.22-1.27-1.26-1.18-5.33.4.No bite or zip in my legs on laps 2 and 3 as I had to settle for a lackluster 5.33 final mile

As is often the case as soon as the workout was done the inquest began,was last week a one off?did I just not have it this week?do I need more repartition in my workouts? and so the time honoured 20 questions began.
If and it's a big if, if I do need more repartition in my workouts my schedule is kind of working against me but it is doable to get on the track twice a week,next week I race Tuesday but can back here Saturday,the following two weeks get a little tricky w/ flying to and from Sacramento but are doable if I tweak my schedule, leaving the week b4 Nationals as my final week w/ 2 trips to the track.....food for thought.
As I rode home on the subway a line from "Sometimes" by Midnight Oil struck a cord w/ me
"sometimes you're beaten to the call sometimes,sometimes you're taken to the wall,but you don't give in"
Words to live by.