The Bowerman Curve

Okay, how’d I do (Doha edition)?

2010-03-14T19:37:00.001-07:00

The Indoor World Championships are over! Very exciting, some big surprises, some expected outcomes, but always very watchable. The showstopper moment, as far as I’m concerned was Lolo Jones and not just the unbelievable race she ran, but her beautifully cathartic reaction to it. But I made some predictions, so let’s see how I did, yeah?

Men:

60 Meters: I said Daniel Bailey, Mike Rodgers and Dwain Chambers – just reverse the order. I had the right names, wrong gold and bronze! Chambers ~~drugged~~ ran a ~~drugged~~ strong 6.48 for the best ~~drugged~~ time in the world this year.

60 Meter Hurdles: I said Trammell, Robles, Svoboda – Svoboda was 5th, but Robles and Trammell put on a freaking show, with Robles having to set a Championship record of 7.34 to just beat out Trammell’s American record 7.36! In third was David Oliver, who I think I’ve overlooked before (my bad!)

400 Meters: I said Batman, and maybe a US sweep with Ireland’s Gillick possibly sneaking in the medals. Turns out Chris Brown led from the gun to win in 45.96, followed by William Collazo and Jamaal Torrance, but the real story was Batman and Gillick tangling on the last corner and both winding up not just out of the medals, but badly out of the medals. Really tactically bad running, and Gillick was crushed by his mistake (Batman seemed none too pleased himself).

800 Meters: I said Ismail, Lalang, Kaki. Close, but no cigar – Kaki won in 1:46.23, Lalang second, and the Pole Adam Kszczot (just pronounce that, I dare you) took the bronze. Really glad I pooh-poohed the eastern Europeans in this one.

1500 Meters: I said Mekonnen, Ali, then took a pass. I got Mekonnen right (3:41.86), silver and bronze went to Iguider and Keitany. It was a pretty pedestrian, which was disappointing, but it was fun to watch for all the lead changes; it turned out to be exciting in the end!

3000 Meters: I said Choge, Lagat and Sanchez. My man Kip wound up winning in a blazing 7:37.97, Sanchez was second (so I got that part of the order right), with Sammy Mutahi third. Choge had a hugely disappointing race; way back almost 20 seconds off the pace. Congrats, Kip!

Women:

60 Meters: I said Jeter, Campbell-Brown and Jones-Ferrette, and as with the men’s 60, got the names right but order wrong. Campbell Brown scorched a 7.00, followed by Jones-Ferrette and Jeter.

60 Meter Hurdles: LOLO! LOLO! LOLO! LO(squared)! Okay, that’s out of my system. I said Lopes-Schliep, Lolo, and Ginnie Powell. Turned out to be Lolo (LOLO! LOLO! LOLO!) in a Championship record 7.72 (seriously, watch it again. I’ll wait), followed by Felicien (who I totally overlooked), and Lopes-Schliep, who just continues to grow on me.

400 Meters: Okay, I said Felix, Dunn and Firova. It was pointed out to me that Allyson Felix didn’t make the team, with the unspoken assertion that I’m an idiot. Sigh. Anyway, I got Dunn and Firova right! They were 1-2, with Dunn winning in 51.04, followed by Stambolova.

800 Meters: I said Meadows, Pierce and a Russian in third – real brave on that bronze pick. Turned out to be Savinova (hey, a Russian!) in 1:58.26, Meadows in a national record for second, and Alysia Johnson setting a PR in third. Pierce PR’d too, but just missed out on the medals. She’s going to be tough outdoors!

1500 Meters: I said Burka, Jamal and Gezahegne. Would someone please remind me to check the actual start lists before I do this? Jeebus. Jamal didn’t run. So it turned out to be Gezahegne in 4:08.14, Natalia Rodriguez getting some satisfaction after her Berlin disaster, and Burka in third. Again, got two of the names right, wrong order.

3000 Meters: I said Defar, Ejigu and Cheruiyot – my prediction of a scorcher proved unfounded, as this was just painfully pedestrian, but I did get all three medalists right, although Ejigu and Cheruiyot switched. It was Defar in 8:51.17 with a crazy-fast kick, Cheruiyot and Ejigu.

Blanka screamed a bit, and won with a surprisingly low height, and Jessica Ennis blew away the Pentathlon field with a Championship record 4937 points. Bryan Clay won the Heptathlon, while Ashton Eaton was busy setting a new Heptathlon world record at the NCAA championships in Fayetteville – congrats to Ashton and Bryan, and I can’t wait to see a US sweep in the Decathlon in 2012! :)

All in all, I think I did way better than my Olympic predictions; I guess I’ve got more cred on the indoor scene than I thought!

Time for Doha predictions!

2010-03-11T20:19:00.001-08:00

Well, I failed to do predictions for Berlin last summer, so I might as well weigh in for the indoor championships that start…um, in about 10 hours. So first I have to issue a caveat: this is my first year really following indoor track at the world level, so I’m still new to the game. Also I’ve been busy and distracted. And I’ll think of another excuse, unless I do really well and then I’ll say it’s because I’m awesome and know lots. Anyway, this is for Rachel. :)

Men:

60 Meters: Ivory Williams seems to be out, due to being an idiot, so that opens up the field a little bit. I see 5 guys with a chance: Daniel Bailey, Dwain Chambers, Nesta Carter, Lerone Clarke and Mike Rodgers. Throw out Clarke, and you’re down to four. I think Bailey’s young but real, so I think it goes like this: Daniel Bailey, Mike Rodgers, and Chambers for the bronze. (I hope Nesta nudges his drug-addled ass, though)

60 Meter Hurdles: This is down to Terrence Trammell and Dayron Robles. I say Trammell, Robles, Svoboda.

400 Meters: Batman! Bershawn Jackson takes this, I think. He looks unbeatable this year. Could be a USA sweep here, but I don’t want to rule out Gillick from Ireland.

800 Meters: Ismail Ismail looks monstrous so far; really tough to beat. I see him coming in ahead of Boaz Lalang, with Abubaker Kaki third. Eastern Europe has a couple guys that can fly, but these three are just too strong and too swift.

1500 Meters: Wow, where to start? Kenyans and Ethiopians, oh my! Laalou, Iguider, Keitany, Gathimba, Mekonnen, Gebremedhin, Ruiz, Ali…so many strong runners to choose from. This will be a monster race. In the end, I think Mekonnen’s got the kick, then Ali, then someone else…I’m not even going to try. This could turn into a quick race.

3000 Meters: Kip! Bernard Lagat is in phenomenal shape, you guys. He’ll have a battle with Tariku Bekele, Sergio Sanchez, Augustine Choge, and Sammy Mutahi. This is the showcase race in my opinion. I think Choge is unstoppable, Lagat brings home a silver and Sanchez makes Spain proud. But truly, this is wiiiide open. Expect a tepid early pace and a screaming close over the last 1200 meters or so.

Women:

60 Meters: Nobody is even in the same class as Carmelita Jeter and LaVerne Jones-Ferrette. Jeter wins, Veronica Campbell-Brown in third.

60 Meter Hurdles: I so want my girl Lolo to win this, but I don’t think she’s all the way back just yet. Priscilla Lopes-Schliep continues her bombardment of the sport, followed by Lolo and Seattle native Ginnie Powell.

400 Meters: Allyson Felix takes her new Nike duds to a gold, with Debbie Dunn and Firova following. If only Sanya Richards-Ross was here! #sweep

800 Meters: Kinda loaded here! Russia is (suspiciously) loaded, especially, with Savinova and Zinurova posting super quick times. I see a quick race shaping up, with Meadows edging out Anna Pierce, with one of the Russians in third.

1500 Meters: Maryam Jamal, Gelete Burka, Gezahegne and Jelagat make this as loaded as the men’s 1500. It’s Burka’s crazy fast kick, Jamal, and Gezahegne.

3000 Meters: Can anyone run with Meseret Defar? No, anyone cannot. Sentayehu Ejigu has challenged her, and I think is well positioned for silver, with Vivian Cheruiyot grabbing bronze. I think Defar pushes the pace early to try and break those two, and it’s going to turn into a rout – possibly a one-woman rout.

I’d love to cover the field events for you, but I just don’t have the know-how. I know it’ll be nice to see Blanka Vlasic give us a primal scream again (Oh, how I’ve missed you, Blanka), Ennis dominates the Pentathlon if she’s healthy (Fountain and Dobrynska duke it out if not)

Okay, girls and boys, that’s it! The fun starts at 6am PDT tomorrow on Universal Sports, so let’s all get on there and clog up the intertubes!

They’re back! The pros are back!

2010-01-09T14:45:00.001-08:00

Mmmm, I just wanna curl up with today’s news like it’s a warm blanket. Yeah, it’s that time of year. Indoor track is starting, world level cross country is getting serious, and the pros are coming out of their training/hibernation and starting to test their wheels again. Sprinters talking smack about each other (knock it off! Just run!). Tweeters tweetin’. Daily 10-miler updates from Meb, Kara’s off getting knocked up, Shalane’s prepping for a half, Geb’s aiming at his world record in Dubai (again). Oh, it’s delicious…

Today’s shocker was seeing Kenenisa Bekele drop to fourth in the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country race. The great Bekele, widely considered a candidate to supplant Haile Gebreselaisse as the greatest runner of all time, had a slightly sub-par season last year by his standards, and wasn’t really a factor today, finishing nearly 40 seconds behind winner Joseph Ebuya, and wasn’t even competitive with the second and third-place finishers, Titus Mbishei and Eliud Kipchoge (another favorite who slipped back). I think this is probably just a blip and he’ll be motivated to stomp the bejesus out of these kids on the track this summer, but it does make you wonder what’s up. He’s too young for declining skills…is he thinking too much about legacy and hurting himself in training? I think it bears watching.

On the women’s side, it was nice to see one of my favorites, Tirunesh Dibaba, pull out a comfortable win over Vivian Cheruiyot (seriously, all these East African women are wonderful – I love watching them run, and they seem genuinely very nice). The Brits showed their continued progression to worldwide competitiveness with Yelling outsprinting Scottish youngun Stephanie Twell – a superstar in the making – for fourth.

Meanwhile, indoor track is ramping up in the states. Arkansas, Texas A&M, Missouri and Purdue all have meets today – of course, this early in the season you see the big guns dropping down in distance for speedwork and a lot of freshmen and sophomores getting their feet wet. Still, Arkansas already produced a few automatic qualifying marks. Next weekend the UW Indoor Preview starts the local season – I saw Amy Yoder-Begley, Kara Goucher and Galen Rupp at this last year, and got the first glimpse of the dominance that would define Jenny Barringer’s last track season. Who’s coming this year? I’ll try to find out and update!

And later this month, Bernard Lagat goes for his 8th Wanamaker mile title at the Millrose Games on the 29th, and my girl Lolo Jones returns to the track to hurdle in Glasgow on the 30th – here’s hoping she’s healthy again and returns to her 2008 form! Lots of time for a broadcasting career – I wanna see her run.

Okay, time to close out this rambling return to my writing…I’m just so excited, so much to talk about!

Adaptability

2009-08-23T17:43:00.001-07:00

Today was a learning day, and I think we all need these once in a while. After enjoying a 12 oz sirloin at Ruth’s Chris last night – first steak since late ‘08, and oh lordy it was good (but coulda done without the price tag!) – I had to keep to my training schedule and pull a 9 miler out of the can today.

Well, Murphy’s Law hit me from all sides. I was up ‘til 5 watching the women’s WC marathon, slept 4 fitful hours, drank coffee and had a donut, failed to consume any useful calories, and sat around until 2:30 before I ran. Once out the door, it took 10 minutes of wandering the neighborhood and rebooting my iPhone before the GPS could find a satellite, my Achilles throbbed from the first step, RunKeeper shut down mysteriously for a mile so I lost my time and distance, and construction had closed the trail I was running, so I had to abandon my meticulously pre-planned route and wing it (with my distances all thrown to hell after the RunKeeper nonsense). At what I took to be 6ish miles in, the ol’ hamstrings decided they’d had enough, a mile further along my toes alerted me that my shoes are 1/2 size too small for long runs, and I spent the last three miles walking a minute for every four I ran. And I finally gave it up a mile from home and walked in.

Wow, right? A hundred reasons to just turn around, go home and call it a day. We’ve all these days, and we all know that temptation to just bag it. But this is where the lesson comes in.

I adjusted my stride, just a bit, to try and go easy on the Achilles. It didn’t solve the problem, but it let me run. I found a new route to run. I got to practice guessing at distances. I got a good idea of some things I need to improve on, so I can work on them and not be surprised if they come up in a race. And I learned that “Tuesday’s Gone” by Lynyrd Skynyrd has a near-perfect running cadence. Who knew? In short, I adapted.

This is the beauty and the difficulty in running; dealing with obstacles thrown in our path when we’re already tired and hot and sweaty and hurting. It makes us feel weak at first to be thrown off stride, but ultimately we feel and are stronger for overcoming it. We have to adapt to the situation as it unfolds, because it’s unpredictable – our legs can hurt, it can be too hot or too cold or start hailing or our bowels can refuse to cooperate. So we learn to focus on what we can do, and not what we can’t. What we did, rather than what we didn’t. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t run the last mile; I did run the first 8.75!

What did I learn? That I can run nearly nine miles, no matter how bad I feel. And that I can almost hit goal pace, even with a good dose of walking thrown in. That my sense of distance needs some practice. And that my pacing is getting much better. These are good things, and as I hobble around for the next 24 hours with sore legs, I’ll remember them, and be ready to attack it again on Tuesday.

105 days to Vegas! (powered by Zappos.com!)

The big ol’ training plan

2009-08-22T12:10:00.001-07:00

So here it is, in case anybody wants to follow along (I’m calling this accountability for Switzer, btw – the more people know what’s expected of me, the more I’ll, uh, not want to be exposed as a slacker), the training plan for the Vegas half marathon. (powered by Zappos!) I downloaded it from Runner’s World, but I put in a few tweaks to fit my schedule and ability, but there are the goals. I’m using Google Docs for this, despite my employment with a competitor who shall remain unnamed, so it’s a big experiment.

For your enjoyment, click here for the full plan, and this week’s progress (so far) can be viewed below!

First tempo run!

2009-08-20T20:20:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I took most of July off with a yanky achilles, then was just lazy the first two weeks of August, so I’m just getting back into it. Today I did my first tempo run in about two months, and it was tough! In hindsight, having the entire second mile of my tempo portion be uphill into a wind was…unwise. I wound up walking a bit, but the first and third miles were close to pace.

The plan: 1 mile warm up, 3 miles @ 6:55 pace, 1 mile cool down. The reality: 1 mile warm up, 1 mile @ 6:52, 1 mile @ 9:45 (see?), 1 mile @ 7:20, and .77 mile cool down. Given the long layoff, I’ll take it. Next time maybe I do this on a track so I have some consistency, or just find some level trails.

On another note, Run Keeper Pro on the iPhone is kick-ass. I programmed the workout, and while still telling me my pace, distance and total time every five minutes, it also tells me when to speed up and slow down as part of my interval or, as today, tempo run. Bad ass! Plus, it lets me do this:

Cross Country! (and other thoughts)

2009-08-20T17:14:00.001-07:00

Well, it’s that time of year again – the leaves will turn soon, and it’s time to leave the road and start running trails. I’m lucky to live in, um, or near, Seattle so I can join one of the largest cross country teams in the country, Eastside Runners XC Team. For those of you paying attention, yes, I was on the team last year, but only ran one meet and then the “incident” happened. I suspect this year will be a bit more rewarding, what with 50 pounds less on the frame and a bit more speed in the legs.

Last night was our first team meeting, where we got to mingle a bit and cover the bases – team captains, who and how to pay, team uniforms, how to register for races, etc. I am pumped! I love track, but there’s something so unique in XC – the changing terrain, different challenges in every race, and given the time of year, you can deal with anything from heat to sub-zero temperatures. It’s a sport for the hardy, with the added benefit that you tend to run in beautiful locations. And entering a new age group, the 40-49 division, opens up some new competitive territory for me. Let’s face it, the odds of me competing with 25 year old guys running sub-15:00 5Ks are slim. But if I can get under 20:00 consistently, I should at least be able to help my age-group team score, and that’s what it’s all about.

Now, onto something a little more serious…

I’ve been following the World Championships in Berlin, and the women’s 800 meters has an unusual bit of intrigue – the gender of the gold medalist has been called into question. Apparently, she improved her PR quite suddenly this July from 2:04 to 1:56, and when the IAAF saw photos of her, they asked South African officials to investigate her gender. See why here or here. I think, visually, there appears to be a legitimate question, and the rapid appearance of dominant ability in this person is at a minimum suspicious.

But here’s what concerns me. This is an 18-year old kid, however the gender issue is resolved. Why was this released to the press the day before the final? Why not just keep the info behind the scenes until the IAAF has their answer, and then release it? Does this person deserve no dignity? Even the IAAF officials, from their statement, don’t believe this is a case of fraud, but rather of someone who may think of herself as a woman but not, biologically, be one. And this 18 year old kid has had this played out on global television.

Watching her face prior to the final, filled with defiance, and the lack of any joy after winning a world title, just broke my heart. Even at the medal ceremony, it was obviously bittersweet at best. If she turns out to be clean of any doping issues and biologically female, what good has been done here? We’ll have someone whose crowning achievement, what should be a moment of unsurpassed joy and pride, has been stripped by a public whipping that no one deserves.

Of course, if she has doped or is biologically a male, the question of fairness is moot – she doesn’t deserve the medal. But that will still not change one salient, oh-so-important fact: this is an 18-year old kid, who will carry what’s happened this week the rest of her life. Are there no adults in the IAAF or the media who could’ve thought better of this?

Vegas training has begun!

2009-08-17T19:35:00.001-07:00

Today is the official start – 111 days out – of my training for the Vegas half…excuse me, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon powered by Zappos.com. {rolls eyes} I’ve run it before (badly and slowly), several years ago, and bailed out at the 6 mile mark about 3 years ago, but I’m going all in this time. I mean, aiming for a 1:30 half marathon all in. And with that, I introduce you to my newest toy, Runkeeper.com!

It’s an app on the iPhone that uses GPS to track your mileage, speed, elevation, and uses audio cues to keep you up to speed on your progress. It also provides links to the workout (you’ll see this shortly). A lot of this is in the MapmyRun app and software, the main advantages seeming to be the audio cues and real time elevation tracking. I prefer the MapmyRun social media tie-ins, but RK seems to work okay with Facebook, although I haven’t been able to get it to tweet yet. Anyhoo, I’m off to see District 9, but I can’t leave without offering up my first RunKeeper workout:

UPDATE: Since I’m not convinced that worked, and it only appears to be a map link if it did, >:-( here’s the scoop: 3.66 miles around Bellevue at 8:16 pace – 8:45 first mile, 7:45 second, 7:37 third, then I struggled with a 9:38 pace the last .66.

Journey from the fat guy in the picture to a racer

2009-08-05T00:24:00.000-07:00

Where the hell have you been, Switzer, you say? Well, you're right to wonder, but I don't appreciate your tone. The truth is, it's been...an odd year. Let's see - where to start? Tell ya what, let's make this a multi-parter. I'll tell you where I've been, and later I'll cover why I started this blog, and why I'm writing it now.

Okay, sooo...after I made my last post here almost a year ago, cross country season started. It did not go well. I was fat, out of shape, not nearly as ready as I thought and hoped I was, and it was all around humiliating. And the truth is, club teams say they welcome runners of all abilities, but the word 'welcome' is in the eye of the beholder. But that's okay, I expected some humiliation along the way - you plow through and become stronger for it. What I did not expect was the photo.

I don't have a link to this photo, as it seems to have disappeared from the intertubes. But I can describe it, because it lives on with crystal clarity in my mind. I went to the Sundodger Invitational to support my Eastside Runner teammates. I was not fast enough to run in this meet, which was okay with me. I love the sport, so I had a blast watching college athletes from NAIA Division II up to the eventual NCAA national champion UW Huskies run, and the club runners were right in the mix. Nobody on the team knew me, so I didn't really chat with anyone, but again, no big deal. I was new on the team, I can be a little shy, and they were doing other things. What I found out later was that I had inadvertently stood in the shot while some photos were being taken. When a link to the club's photos of the event went out, I happily looked through - hey, running photos are kinda awesome! I came across one that I glanced at, but didn't look that closely. The caption said "I love the look on the not-so-fit guy's face as he watches these Kenyans fly by!". I looked up to see the poor fat guy being made fun of, and was horrified to realize that I was that fat guy.

Well, I will say this. I had never experienced such a deep blow. I don't know why it hit me as hard as it did, but it did. I stopped blogging, stopped running, stopped everything. After a couple days, I decided to do something about this, and started looking into the 20/20 Lifestyles program at my gym - basically, you pay assloads of money to the club in exchange for six months of a dietician, doctor, personal trainer twice a week, and private and group therapy. My company pays most of the cost, but that still leaves a couple grand coming out of my pocket. I decided, to never feel like this again, to walk across my house without getting winded, to never feel ashamed of big clothes fitting snugly, to not fear the beating of my own heart - well, no price was too much. I perked up and was excited about this new direction in my life!

You can feel the other shoe about to drop, right? It did. I went through two physicals (to make sure I was unhealthy enough to qualify for this, but healthy enough to not die in the process), two blood tests, and all sorts of paperwork, only to find at the last minute that I had the wrong insurance. Suddenly, I was out in the dark again, and wouldn't get the help I so obviously needed until I could change my insurance, in three months.

I'm sorry to say that this put me in a depression like I've never felt before and hope to never feel again. It lasted from October into January, and I was just destroyed. I hated being fat, and desperately wanted to go to the gym, but I was borderline qualified for the program, so couldn't risk getting any healthier. I refused to take blood pressure medication, wouldn't work out, and ate even more than before, which is saying something. I ate things I didn't want, WHEN I didn't want. Eventually I could see others looking a little embarrassed, so I began to eat normal meals and snuck out to McDonalds after they'd gone to sleep, and would eat in my car. There is no way to explain the shame and hurt of sitting in your car at 1am, eating a burger you don't want.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Switzer was not cut out for supporting someone going through this type of trauma, and couldn't be with someone she thought of as fat, lazy, unwilling to fix these things, and depressed, and found another Mr. to love - I finally moved out on January 29 of this year. So, to add to the shame and hurt of being Mr. Fat Guy, I had become Mr. Single Dumped By His Wife Guy. (I promise, this story cheers up) Prior to that date, however, I had started to make some changes on my own. I stumbled on these little tuna salad with cracker things - they're $2 each, and all self-contained. I found little puddings. I forget what else I ate at this time, but the point was, while other things had gone out of my control, I found I could control one thing - what I ate. And while I felt weak in other aspects of my life, feeling hunger that I'd imposed on myself felt strong. So I started eating small portions, identical foods and amounts, at the same time every day. And weight started to come off.

In January, I started to run again, and this time enjoyed it. I actually kicked it off with a race on New Year's Day (see the photo!) I was struggling to run two miles at 10:00 pace, but I was doing it, and it felt good. In February, I'll admit that the stress compounded and I made some poor eating choices (essentially, I became obsessed with the weight loss and stopped eating), but I was running 4 or 5 times a week and added boxing to the regimen. By the end of February I'd dropped from 198 lbs (207 on January 1) to 182, and was able to run up to 4 miles at a 9:00 pace. In February, on the days I ate, I took in under 1000 calories.

In March, I got down to the low 170's, and even peeked under 170, and rediscovered my ability to run on my toes and use a quicker stride. I signed up for races to give myself a target goal. Also, after an embarrassing fainting spell at boxing, I started eating enough food - and PROTEIN - to keep the machine going and suddenly found myself with abundant energy, and even managed to run 6 miles a couple times. I started eating closer to 1600 calories a day, and felt like I was gorging myself to do it!

In April, I got down to the low 160's, made more tweaks in the diet, adding some calories back in and moving some protein around. I also started to accumulate miles, and got up to 10 miles for my long runs.

By May, I was ready to race. I locked in at 162 lbs, and was running consistent miles, long runs around 8:45 - 9:00 pace and shorter runs around 8:20 pace. I finally added an interval workout - 2 x 1600 in 7:45, with an 800 jog between. Well, I ran one at 6:37 and one at 6:45, and knew that things had really changed. I was ready for Bloomsday.

Bloomsday is a 12k in Spokane, with Doomsday Hill about halfway in - a hill I was terrified of, as I've struggled with hills for the last few years. When I registered, I predicted a 9:00 pace on the registration form, and thought that might be a little aggressive. Even though I'd improved faster than I thought I would, I was still expecting no better than an 8:30 pace if things went really well. As it turned out, I finished with a 7:50 pace

The more important moment in May, though, involved my Eastside Runners jersey. When I got it (size XL) for cross country season 8 months earlier, it was SNUG. Like, embarrassingly, here-are-my-man-boobs snug. I wore it, but I hated it. Well, during my moving around I found it and tried it on, just out of curiosity - and it was baggy on me. Hence, I wore that bastard at Bloomsday just to make a point to myself. And I wore it at the next 5k I ran (in 21:43), in the mile I ran at an all-comer's (6:37), and in the half-marathon in late June (1:51), and the 5k on my birthday (21:49 on a longer/mis-measured course).

And I'm back. I have my confidence back. I have my assassin back - rather than just slogging through races because it's what you do, I target people and pick them off for the fun of it. I'm beating people in my club. I'm top 10 in the 40-44 division in my last three races. I can love participating in this sport again, instead of just watching it. I feel, in short, like a runner again. I look like a runner again. I eat like a runner again, sleep like a runner again, think like a runner again. This is what I do. It's been a weird and at times difficult year, but on the other side of it, I have me, and I'm happy about that. I missed me. I didn't like being the guy who couldn't tuck in a shirt or keep up on a walk to the cafe. I like this - I love watching this sport, and I love competing. I think it's a shame that I had to start beating people before I was welcomed into my running club, and I hope I can use my experience to teach people about that.

Most of all, I'm happy. And I look forward to re-purposing this blog, to tell the story of a comeback, to talk about the sport I love, and to just generally...well, drop 2,000 words at a pop and make you all suffer through it!

One last Olympic update

2008-08-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

Unless the mood strikes me again.

So, this guy from Australia (I referenced him in last night's post) called the US Track team a "laughingstock". I disagree with him, but didn't take it up too much, because it did seem that our team performed at less than their best. But the more I thought about it, the more it irritated me and didn't ring true.

Swaggering sprinters? Where? This isn't Barcelona or Sydney. Tyson Gay is among the most humble sprinters around. Walter Dix just runs, does his job, and takes what comes to him. I don't recall Usain Bolt running for us - now THAT'S a swaggering sprinter. Our 400 team (lest we forget, we swept the medals in the men's 400 and 400 hurdles) was about as low-key and businesslike as you can get, Jeremy Wariner's bad attitude excepted. And the too-frequent failures of our 4 x 100 relay teams in Olympic races continues to disappoint.

But the US team a laughingstock? Let's take a look at the medal count: Hm, US 23, Russia 18, Kenya 14, Jamaica 11, everyone else can go suck it. Hey, where's Australia in that medal count, Scott Gullan of the Herald Sun? Oh yeah...you got 4. So let's keep things in perspective. When things go as badly as they did for the Americans on the track and they still beat the second place team by more medals than Australia won in total (and, by the way, won more golds, silvers, and bronzes than the next closest teams as well)...well, I think you could say American dominance on the track is still doing okay.

With injuries to our top runners in the men's 100, 200, 110 hurdles, 1500 and 5000, as well as disastrous errors in the women's 100 hurdles and 400 meters, our second, or in some cases third best, still won medals. Men's 100 (bronze), 200 (silver and bronze), 110 hurdles (silver and bronze), women's 100 hurdles (gold) and 400 (bronze). That's a good haul for a team weakened by injuries and mistakes. So perhaps Mr. Gullan should rethink what it means to be a laughingstock.

U.S. track has some trouble - but how'd I do?

2008-08-23T23:55:00.001-07:00

Well, that was an interesting week. Lots of ups and downs for the US track team, some trends continuing (Jamaica catching up - more like passing us - in the sprints, continued decline in the jumps, weak performances above 400 meters), some new things emerging, and clear indications that we need to get American track refocused, top to bottom.

I'll get to that. But first, how did I do at my predictions? Let's see:

My guess? Flanagan pushes the pace, not wanting to deal with the kick of a Dibaba or the other Africans. Hopefully she doesn't go out too fast - if she can get in under 31:00, she's got a medal. Due to my crush (*le sigh*), I kinda hope Goucher wins the whole thing, but I think she's most likely to finish 5th or 6th.

Success! Flanagan finishes in 30:22 in a fast race and gets a bronze. Kara found herself running under 31:00 for the first time, but still 10th.

Americans will all make the final, but they're going to get their asses kicked in the women's 5,000. They just don't have sub-14:30's in them

Well, this one's weird. No 14:30 needed, with the slowest world-class 5000 I've seen in...well, ever, but really they just ran tactically bad races. When you're running 80-plus second laps at the Olympics with Dibaba in the race, you need to GO. You can't leave it to a sprint. I love me some Kara Goucher, and her kick is fantastic, but she doesn't have a Dibaba-type kick.

* Sorry, American men! Your Olympics are going to be difficult in the distance events. Predictions:

800: Symmonds makes the final, finishes around 8th. Wheating gets into the semis, Smith doesn't survive the heats
1500: Hope! Lagat seems unbeatable, but it's a different year. I'll be a homer and say he wins it. Leo Manzano and Lopez Lomong might survive the semis, getting the whole team into the finals. Unlikely, though.
3000 Steeple: Um, seriously. Nobody's making the finals.
5000: Lagat will make the final, and if the field plays into his hands with a slow, tactical race, could win or medal again. My money says we'll get our first sub 13:00, and no American medals. Tegenkamp and Dobson, enjoy the experience and the semis.
10000: If the race is slower and tactical, Abdi could be in the running, but I think he's most likely to finish around 5th or 6th. Rupp and Torres won't be competitive.
Marathon: Hall could surprise and pull off a medal run, but I think it's not his time yet - 4th is my prediction. In 2012, Hall's going to blow the field up, though!

Well, let's see. Symmonds didn't make the final, but neither Smith nor Wheating survived the heats. So I was, like, 30% right. Lagat failed to survive the semis, running TACTICALLY STUPID RACES. I saw this in Eugene, it concerned me, and it bit him in the ass. Tendinitis or no, you can't spend all your time boxed in in the back of the pack. So I was way wrong on that. Manzano and Lomong did as expected. Steeplechase - Famigliatti surprised me and made the finals (running a bizarre front-running semi and burning himself out in the process). In the 5, Lagat and Tegenkamp made the finals, but as I predicted, no medals AND the first Olympic sub 13:00. In the 10, Abdi was never really in it, nor was Rupp. Torres was REALLY out of it. But, the race was neither slow nor tactical, so that roughly fits what I predicted. Ryan Hall really shit the bed in the marathon, putting forth his worst effort yet, but it is early and he's got talent galore. I still say 2012 is his time.

I called for one medal, but predicted we could easily get nothing, which is exactly what we got. Hrmph.

We could win as many as 7 medals at 800 and above for the women, but a minimum of 2:
800: Hazel Clark could go bronze, although I think the field's just too deep - probably 6th or 7th
1500: Rowbury medals. Guaranteed.
Steeple: One medal. Barringer or Willard, can't predict who pulls out the bronze.
5000: Sorry, guys, it just ain't gonna happen.
10000: Flanagan medals, possibly Goucher.
Marathon: Kastor could surprise!

Oy. Nobody survived the semis in the 800; just a terrible performance. I apologize for guaranteeing a Rowbury medal - she was in it, but didn't have the guns at the right time. She is absolutely good enough to run with those ladies, though. I clearly underestimated the steeple field - an American record apparently will only get you 9th place! 5000, well, I called it. 10, I called this too. In the marathon, whoopsie! Kastor breaks a foot, Lewy Boulet whacks her knee on a bus seat (WHAT??), and that was that.

So what's up with the American team? Other than Tyson Gay, our sprinters are clearly in a down cycle, but Walter Dix is going to be gooood. Gay had a rough couple months - bad time to strain the hammy and miss some training! No matter, Usain Bolt wasn't going to be beaten. Nice, gutsy sweep in the 400, and I admit I enjoy seeing Jeremy Wariner get beat, just because he's such a pouter about it. Lolo Jones (hot hot heat - good lordy she's smoking hot!) ran so well, the end of her race was excrutiating to watch. Same with Sanya Richards, although she kinda did herself in by going out too fast. Our distance runners continue to be outmatched and unprepared for these meets. Damn damn damn. And the relays! It's to the point that I didn't watch the 4 x 100 prelims because this has become a 50/50 chance with the U.S. teams. We've got to get our national teams focused on the team portion of the Olympics so this nonsense doesn't happen - it's embarrassing and inexcusable.

I think the next four years will be somewhat transformative - they have to be. Doug Logan's clearly putting a lot of thought into getting the USATF straightened out, I think he's going to look at our coaching (finally!) and the sprinters won't let themselves continue to be humiliated like they were.

I don't agree with the commenters here (idiots), and this guy's just a douchebag. But, the reality is that our team looked unprepared and in many cases like they didn't take this seriously enough.

When looking at the Kenyans and Ethiopians compared to our distance runners, the big gap appears to be in the depth of their bench. They have dozens of runners 18 - 21 years old running world-class times - an 18 year old won the women's 800, 21 year old won the men's marathon, the Ethiopians had an 18 year old in the men's 5000 final. They have dozens of kids like this. We have four or five guys, spread around multiple events, all in their mid-to-late 20's. This is not how you catch up. We have to stop babying our high school runners. The myth that they'll burn out and won't have a pro career is just that - a myth. These African runners are running world-class times by 15 or 16 years old, and training at a world-class level. When I hear that a talent like Jordan Hasay is running 30 or 40 miles a week during the season and LESS between seasons, I see an enormous opportunity wasted. I see a talent being wasted. And I only see one of her! It's great that California had two girls running at a high level last year, but they are few and far between. And they get to college and are still not training at a world-class level, so four more years are wasted. How fast would Jenny Barringer be in the steeple if she trained like the Kenyans instead of getting babied at the college level (yes, I'm aware her training is hard - but it should be harder)? Why should Galen Rupp have to leave college for a year to train for world-class races? World-class training should be part of the college program, not saved for the post-collegiate athlete.

But what do I know? I'm just a guy seeing what's plainly displayed on my TV screen every time our runners go up against the Africans.

8/16 run

2008-08-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

A tough one today! My first workout with the Eastside Runners cross-country team, and it was a doozy.

We did fartleks - 3 minutes hard and 1 minute easy, 5 times. It was at Westhill Park in Bothell, which is a hair less than 1/2 mile in circumference. I made it around exactly 5 times, and finished my last 3 minutes hard session right at the spot where we started. I decided to forgo the last 1 minute easy, as I was totally wiped, so I covered 2 1/4 miles in 19 minutes (yes, I did eventually jog a very short cool-down and stretch).

The good news: This means I ran 2 1/4 miles, in rough conditions (all the hard stretches were uphill into the sun, and it was 80 degrees at 8am), at a faster pace than I ran my 3000 race on Wednesday - 8:27 pace today versus 8:43 pace Wednesday.

The bad news: I felt really rough, and clearly have a LOT of work to do to get ready for this season. Luckily, the first race isn't until the 30th, so I have a couple weeks, and there's a month between that one and the next race, so I've got time to get my act together.

This does tell me that I can get down to 8:00 pace for a 5k by the end of the season, which sets me up well for the winter races and next spring/summer. Not sure how I'll do in longer races, as some of the cross-country races are 8k - hopefully I can get some miles in and get those races under 9:00 pace.

Goals for the cross-country season:
5k: 25:00
8k: 42:00

I also got my uniform for cross-country (woot!). Sadly, it's, um...snug. But, I'm going to use that as motivation to get rid of some action in the midsection and chest, and hopefully I'll have need of a smaller size next year. :-)

I've run just under 36 miles since I started the blog.

8/13 run: 3000m race!

2008-08-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

I know, racing in my second run back from a short break...I'm not in good enough shape for this crap! But, it's the last all-comer's meet of the season, and I need to see where I am with the first cross-country race of the season coming up on the 30th. So with that, and sore thighs from Monday's run, I decided to make the trek to Shoreline and enjoy a 3000m time trial. If I wasn't ready, I can just step of the track, right?

I arrived around 8:30pm and stopped by the sign-in table to get my name on the clipboard. The first thing I notice is that next to the 3000m board is a board for a 10000 that is scheduled to go off at the same time. And the 10 has "37:00 minimum" written at the bottom of the page - sort of a "you must be this big..." for the track set. So I see that there's going to be some competitive running, which bodes poorly for me. Curious, I check the board to see who's running 25 laps tonight. Uli Steidl! Oh, joy, winner of 8 straight Seattle marathons and 37th at the World Championships...wonder if I'll be lapped tonight? *sigh*

The answer to that question, of course, was yes. Repeatedly. Approximately every 1 1/4 laps by the leaders, but really every 20 seconds or so by someone, as the crowd got fairly strung out.

Nonetheless, I felt okay at the start, although I went out a bit fast and had to rein myself in (yes, it's all subjective. A 52-second 200 is a bit fast for me). I got through the first 800 in 3:56, having settled down to a pretty even pace, 1200 in 5:58, and then slowing to reach the 1600 in 8:03. I was doing okay, but after the 2000 mark (reached in 10:12 - clearly slowing down now!) I started to really hurt. I didn't hear my time at the 2400 mark because I was gasping for air too loudly, but I know I reached the bell lap at 13:36. I really turned on the jets and finished up the first raced 3000 of my life in 15:39. And I wasn't even last place!

So, I now know I can run 2 miles in 16:46-ish, although could probably go faster if I paced better in the first mile. Given my conditioning coming into this race, I feel pretty good about cross-country. Is it possible I could run 8:00 pace for a 5k by the end of the season? Now, that would make me happy!

8/11 run

2008-08-11T23:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I backslid. I took a couple weeks off, and MAYBE I had some chalupas. I like chalupas, sue me. Anyway, I got back in the saddle tonight (and an uncomfortable saddle it was). I ran my normal 3-mile loop by the house, in 32:11. Being a little stiff and out of it for a couple weeks, I had to walk a couple times for a total of 2 minutes, so I'm actually pretty happy with the time.

7/26 run

2008-07-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

I'm in Vegas, on a last-minute trip. Woot! I decided to put in three miles during the heat of the day, which in hindsight was a mistake. The first mile was fine - hot (96 degrees), so I got a bit winded and parched right away, but not unbearable. I ran into trouble in the second mile. I had some trouble breathing, and was clearly getting overheated, so had to walk a bit about 1.5 miles into it. I made it down the strip just fine, and then turned onto a side road for the last mile or so, at which point things went very badly. As soon as I crossed the strip, I decided to walk for a minute to catch my breath again. When I started running again, I had no strength at all in my legs - it was like running through mud. My arms had gone numb, breathing was difficult, and I was getting dizzy. Dehydration! *sigh* I wound up walking the 3/4 miles or so back to the hotel, where I deeply enjoyed re-entering air conditioning and finding some water to drink. So, I only ran about 2.1 miles, and I think it was around 23 minutes or so - didn't really pay attention and don't really care.

MMR majique:

Random musings

2008-07-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

I've decided to make this an easy week, as my achilles' have been hurting for a week and my hamstring cramped like a bastard this morning, so I'm taking tonight off. Instead, I'll make you all suffer through whatever's inside my head!

* I want these. I really, really want them.

* What's with the Chinese women and their distance running program? In the mid '90's, they were breaking records - by mind-boggling margins - always in Beijing or Shanghai. Then they just disappeared. Look at the 3000-meter world record. See how far ahead of everyone else Junxia is? Just not possible by legal means, sorry. It's WAY too fishy. Same with the 10,000 - a record set, again, by Junxia in Beijing, 5 days before she ran an impossibly fast 3000! I just don't buy it, and it sounds like there were performance-enhancing drugs involved. Huh. Fancy that.

* I look forward to the women's 10,000 at the Olympics sooooo much. Flanagan and Goucher pushing the Africans? Are you kidding me? It'd be nice to see two medals (especially a gold!) but I think only one is more likely. My guess? Flanagan pushes the pace, not wanting to deal with the kick of a Dibaba or the other Africans. Hopefully she doesn't go out too fast - if she can get in under 31:00, she's got a medal. Due to my crush (*le sigh*), I kinda hope Goucher wins the whole thing, but I think she's most likely to finish 5th or 6th.

* Americans will all make the final, but they're going to get their asses kicked in the women's 5,000. They just don't have sub-14:30's in them, especially in that weather and after what should be a brutal 10,000. 2012, maybe.

* Speaking of Gouchers, Adam Goucher is going to be a monster in the half marathon and marathon (Kara might be, too, when/if she moves up). I'd love to see Hall and Goucher fighting out some 2:05 marathons for the next five years!

* Sorry, American men! Your Olympics are going to be difficult in the distance events. Predictions:

800: Symmonds makes the final, finishes around 8th. Wheating gets into the semis, Smith doesn't survive the heats
1500: Hope! Lagat seems unbeatable, but it's a different year. I'll be a homer and say he wins it. Leo Manzano and Lopez Lomong might survive the semis, getting the whole team into the finals. Unlikely, though.
3000 Steeple: Um, seriously. Nobody's making the finals.
5000: Lagat will make the final, and if the field plays into his hands with a slow, tactical race, could win or medal again. My money says we'll get our first sub 13:00, and no American medals. Tegenkamp and Dobson, enjoy the experience and the semis.
10000: If the race is slower and tactical, Abdi could be in the running, but I think he's most likely to finish around 5th or 6th. Rupp and Torres won't be competitive.
Marathon: Hall could surprise and pull off a medal run, but I think it's not his time yet - 4th is my prediction. In 2012, Hall's going to blow the field up, though!

That's one medal, for you kids counting at home. Five medals is the absolute most we could win (Symmonds, Lagat twice, Abdi and Hall) in the most optimistic viewing, and we could easily be left with no medals above the sprints - again. We've had worse showings, but still.

We could win as many as 7 medals at 800 and above for the women, but a minimum of 2:
800: Hazel Clark could go bronze, although I think the field's just too deep - probably 6th or 7th
1500: Rowbury medals. Guaranteed.
Steeple: One medal. Barringer or Willard, can't predict who pulls out the bronze.
5000: Sorry, guys, it just ain't gonna happen.
10000: Flanagan medals, possibly Goucher.
Marathon: Kastor could surprise!

* Russia's back! 800, Steeple, you name it they've got runners at the top of the lists. Japan could easily surprise and sweep the marathon, and it's just as likely that Kenyans and Ethiopians could run the table at everything above 400m. This is gonna be fun to watch!

* I can't WAIT for the freakin' Olympics to start!

Race, first victory!

2008-07-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

I've been running 17 days, and I've already won a race - woot! Okay, so it was a jogger's mile at an all-comer's meet - meaning you predict your time and the closest to their predicted time wins. And yeah, I came in 33rd out of 40 people if you measure strictly by actual, you know, performance. I'm still a winner!

I predicted an 8:00 mile, and came in one second off, in 7:59. They don't give you your pace after the first lap, but I hit that in 1:58, so it looks like my pace was pretty consistent. I've been on my feet at a company event for the last two days, so my legs were a bit stiff and my feet are killing me. Warming up, I was just hopeful I wouldn't wind up running an 8:30 and embarrassing myself, by the race took off faster than last week and I just followed along. My breathing never went anaerobic, and I recovered very quickly, so as with last week, there's clearly more in the tank, maybe as low as 7:40 if I really, really push myself. We'll see!

7/20 Run

2008-07-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

Long run Sunday! Putting up my 4th run in 5 days, I made it my longest run yet. I went out to the East Lake Sammamish trail, which I highly recommend, and did a little over 5 miles in 52:40. Out in 27:07, back in 25:33 - woot for negative splits! It comes out to about a 10:18 pace - I was hoping to come in somewhere between 10 and 11 pace, so I'm pretty happy that taking it as easy as I did got me into the low 10's.

The trail is great - crushed rock, pretty flat. It hugs the lake most of the time, and gives a nice mix of shade and sun; wonderful on a nice day like today! My shins have been hurting lately (too much running on sidewalks), so it felt really nice to be on softer ground. Makes me really look forward to cross country season! I was surprised, after running harder than I planned yesterday, that I had no soreness and felt pretty loose throughout the run. It really is nice to feel like I can get myself back in shape.

And as always, Map my Run magic:

7/19 Run

2008-07-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

My first Saturday Morning run with the Eastside Runners (I'm a member! woot!) - 3 miles (really a 5k) by the Kirkland waterfront. This was actually just the 12k's of Christmas course in reverse. I told them I'd run it at a roughly 10:00 pace, as the course is a bit hilly and I'm not really in any kind of shape yet, but I finished in 28:50 - a 9:25 pace. Woot!

I also finally got around to weighing myself last night. With my shame included, came in at 192. So, I've got a starting point there, too.

And now, the Map my Run magic:

7/17 Run

2008-07-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

Nice recovery from yesterday; ran the 3 mile loop near the house in 32:14. Felt a little tight and heavy, but nothing unexpected after a long day planted on my ass at work and the up-tempo mile last night. (No soreness from that, by the way!)

Today was day 11 back in running!

7/16 run - a race!

2008-07-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

Today I made my first foray back to "competitive" track, with a visit to Club Northwest's every-Wednesday-in-the-summer All-Comer's meet. I signed up for the "jogger's mile", in which you write down your predicted time, and the runner who finishes closest to that time wins. I predicted 8:12, and ran an 8:04 (woot!), so 8 seconds difference. Looking at past races, I imagine this will put me somewhere around the top 5.

More importantly, I ran an 8:04 on 9 days' training! Damn straight. Goal for next week, 7:50.

An article about the night Pre died

2008-07-16T14:48:00.001-07:00

I'm a Pre-ophile, a group that was small when I was in high school but has grown immensely in the last 10 years. My mother went to high school with Pre at Marshfield, and I remember the day he died - my mother's reaction was visceral, and stuck with me. Knowing most of the stories about the night of his death, this article was of great interest - and really shed some new light on the event.

I prefer another scenario: After Pre dropped off Frank Shorter on Skyline Loop, he was away from people — alone for the first time all day. Now he could reflect and be proud of his most recent accomplishment, the Finnish track tour.
Prefontaine was no different than the rest of us in that regard. He had hopes and dreams and conversations with himself. Perhaps he was having one of those conversations as he descended Skyline Boulevard. Reliving the recent past, planning for the future, daydreaming. He just wasn’t thinking about the here and now. It’s something all of us do every day.
Don’t blame Steve for that; don’t blame anybody. Blame the road, blame the car — but don’t blame Steve.
I’m sorry if this all seems too morbid, especially during what is such a celebratory mood in Eugene. But I present this because I believe that’s the way Steve would have wanted it: for all of us to forget how he died, and to just remember how he lived — how he did truly live.
Copyright © 2008 — The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA

7/13 Run

2008-07-13T17:15:00.000-07:00

Didn't run yesterday - took the day off and did 7 hours (!) of yard work. Pretty good run today; it was 82 out and my calves are killing me, but seemed like a good day for my first "long" run. Took a bike trail out for 2 miles (21 minutes) and back, in 40:44. According to map my run, it's 4.08 miles at 9:59 pace. 13.4 miles since I started this blog!

Map my Run sez:

High school news

2008-07-12T13:56:00.001-07:00

Laurynne Chetalat - who pushed Jordan Hasay to the brink in their 9:52 femme a femme 3200 at the California state championships - just came in 6th at the IAAF World Junior Championships in a very surprising 9:15.11 - the 5th fastest 3000 by a US high-school girl of all time, and fastest since '96. This translates to a sub-9:50 3200 (and 9:53-ish 2 mile), putting her second all-time at that distance.

methinks Jordan's going to be pushed when they see each other again in college! With Chetalat, Kosinski and Hasay coming up, I think the middle distances are going to be strong for American women for a while! Now if we could just get some consistency out of Alan Webb...

Ray ranks 'em - women's distance (US)

2008-07-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

Yeah, this is definitive, so what? You sayin' my lists aren't the final word? Ha!

Okay, so distance, for my purposes, is defined as 5k/10k. Anything longer than that stands on its own (besides, this is a track blog, and we don't run a lot of half marathons on the track, right?).

1. Shalane Flanagan
2. Kara Goucher (woman doesn't have her own website - how is this possible?)

3. (and way behind those two) Lauren Fleshman
4. Jenn Rhines
5. Sara Slattery

Goucher is a really, really close second - these two will tussle for the next few years. My hope is we'll see them trade American Records for a while. We need a rivalry! Flanagan needs to start going all McEnroe on the track; throwing punches when people pass her or something. I'm also leaving off some serious talents that may be moving up the list in the next year - Arianna Lambie, Molly Huddle, maybe Alicia Shay when she gets healthy again.

7/11 Run

2008-07-11T22:23:00.000-07:00

Ran a couple miles around 10:00pm at an easy pace, to recover from last night - which was harder than I thought! 2.3 miles in 24:39 - the last half mile up 80th is uphill, and I still managed to cover it in 5:19. I'm damn slow, but I've put in four runs so far this week!

And now, the Map My Run magic:

7/10 run

2008-07-11T00:05:00.000-07:00

I'll try to keep my runs up to date here; later posts will be, um, better. So, today I ran 3 miles by the house in 28:58. It was 32:00 on Tuesday, and around 36:00 last week, so good improvements, right? And now we'll see how the Map My Run embed tool works!

7/8 run

2008-07-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

3 miles near the house in 32:00. Ish. I forgot to bring a watch, sue me. I'm out of shape and forgot how to do all this running stuff...

Back at the runnin'!

2008-07-07T15:15:00.000-07:00

Ran to the local track, put out a 8:23 mile, and just like that, I have my starting point. I haven't been running regularly in years, but the fire's been relit by, you guessed it, two recent trips to Hayward Field - for the Pre Classic in June and Olympic Trials on the 4th. We'll see where this goes!