Peachtree. wooooo!!

I spent this year’s 4^th of July the same way I have the past 2 years – strolling 10k down Peachtree street through the heart of Atlanta with some of the fastest runners in the world. The Atlanta Peachtree has been my favorite event by far since graduating college and this year’s edition didn’t disappoint. I’m not sure if it’s the southern enthusiasm for the 4^th or returning to the state I went to college, but I always seem to turn a corner at this race. This year’s Peachtree didn’t exactly go as well as the previous two, but I still came away satisfied with the result.

During the first half of the race, I was extremely worried it was about to turn into a disaster. Unlike 2009 and 2010, my legs just didn’t feel quite right from the start and the conditions were triggering my allergies. By 5k, I had lost considerable ground on the lead Americans and was probably around 35^th place overall. The second half of the race is mostly uphill and really saved my day. The leaders were long gone but I was able to catch a decent amount of people and managed to sneak in the top 10 US finishers. Although I don’t feel as though I had a particularly great race, I was very pleased with where my strength was. I think I’m in decent half marathon shape and am now looking for a race to see if I can pr.

USA Nationals

Thank you teammates, family, friends, and Adidas for all the kind words and excitment about us racing the USA National Championship. It was a wonderful experience.

Working up to this race I was having the best workouts of my life and feeling amazing. Since Stanford I focused on training with two small races that served as workouts to keep my racing mood fresh. My best workouts were 12x300 and 6xmile. The 300 workout started at 57 and worked down with the last one at 49!! That was the fastest I'd ever run a 300 at sea level so I was a bit shocked that I hit that. The mile workout was the one I posted about previously that wouldn't have been possible without Cody, David, and Adrian. The week before the race I ran a mile on the track at Boulder, which I was hoping for a really fast time but it wasn't so I had a small panic moment that I wasn't ready for Eugene. Apparently, I was fine but I turn into a head case at times.

I flew to Eugene on Wednesday and hung out with Ali and my friend Ed from Charlotte. I ate dinner with the Charlotte crew and enjoyed a peaceful night at the Super 8 (unlike Ali's night that you will have to ask about, crazy story) in Springfield (supposedly it's not the nicest side of town but no one tells you this until it's too late). Thursday, race day, was the normal routine of a shake out run (on the Prefontaine trail), sitting in the hotel catching up on crap TV, finding food, and napping.

The Race. I felt amazing before the race except for a few tears from nervousness and uncertainty. On the line I knew I was ready for a great race and to be competitive and I must have been thinking too much because the gun went off and I ended up near the back of the pack. Ahh! I about panicked at 200m since I was nearly last, but remembered that there was still 24.5 laps to go and that David told me NOT to be too fast on the first few laps. So I slowly worked to the middle of the pack by 500m. I was worried about my position again after the next lap when many of the girls I typically race with were 10m meters ahead and separating from the group I was in. I listened to my splits and decided I was ok and going to stick to the plan on 78-79s laps and let the other group go. The group I was in was stacked with good girls too and we've worked well racing together before and with so many laps I had time to adjust later. I was a bit fast at the mile at 5:10, but was perfect at 5k with 16:27. Up to this point the race seemed to be a bit physical with girls jostling of positions, bumping, stepping on the inside, trying to pass on the inside, and clipping spikes. When did the 10k become so violent? Anyway, the pace was consistent and the second pack of girls came back to us. With a mile to go a few of us broke off and tried to thin the group. At 600m to go I picked up the pace and with a lap to go all I could hear was David yelling that I had to go. I finished in a 73 (which felt like a 60) to get a personal best of 32:55!!!

I was thrilled once I could stand straight again and comprehend what just occurred. I couldn't believe I just placed 8th and broke 33 minutes. Wow. I felt like I was living a dream and couldn't stop smiling for a few days.

It was so nice to have so many friends, teammates, and previous coaches at the race cheering me on. Thank you all!

Congrats to Ali, Nicole, and Kristin for having great races too!

It was also really awesome to have Eron and the Adidas crew up in Eugene too. They provided the AdiHaus to hang out at, which was decked out with tv's, video games, a pool table, a basketball game (ask Ali about this too, she add a new competition with the McMillans - we may have to have a shooting contest), basketball court, couches, and snacks. The decor was cool since it was posters of the Adidas athletes and the new Adidas apparrel. We got to meet many of the Adidas staff and athletes. The had some fun runs as a group on Friday and Saturday. The Friday run was "Run with the Pros" for local high school runners, which they all kicked Ali and I's butts as we slowly trotted with post-race legs. Saturday was "Girls Run" with Jen Rhines leading it and it was in honor of Grete Waitz. Both runs adventured through the Pre Trail, which was very pretty and soft. Thanks Adidas for everything!

P.S. I have pictures to post from the race, Eugene, and from the AdiHaus, but I'm having computer issues so it may be in a separate post.

It's Been One Crazy Year

Well it's been quite a year, a very very long year. A lot has changed in my life over the last year personally but things seem to be settling down finally. I'm still in gunny, still coaching at Western State, and still running but those are probably the only constants in my life.

As far as my running is concerned I'm not totally over the foot injury that put me out oct-feb but I'm darn near there. I've been running since the last week of February but it's been very low mileage, around 60 per week because my foot seemed to act up whenever I went higher. However, just recently it has started to feel a lot better and I hit 92 miles last week. Still a far cry from the mileage I would prefer to be doing but it's progress. Right now I'm pretty sure I'm dealing with tendinitis in the tendon where the bone is that I had a fracture in. It seems to hurt only post-run and is always ready to go by the next morning.

As far as racing goes, I ran a couple races during the outdoor season, all pathetically slow, but that was expected after missing so much time. Now that I am able to run decent mileage I hope to get fit quickly and may do a race or two on the front range between now and the end of the summer. My main focus is just to get the foot to 100% and be able to sustain some solid mileage through the summer and fall with the big races coming next spring.

In non-running news, I'm don't think any of you know but for work outside of coaching I run a handful of websites and I am in the process of launching a new site. It's not finished yet and my Gunnison web designer (Josh Eberly - a sub 2:20 marathoner) at Run Sleep Design is still making changes to it. The site is called You Review It and I'm really excited about its potential.

On a side note, props to our girls who ran the 10k at USA's, Alisha Williams, Nicole Feest, and Cassie Slade. And Big props to Cassie who placed 8th and got the marathon Olympic trial qualifier. Oh and not to be forgotten, Tommy Neal (originally from my home state of Missouri) ran a marathon Olympic trial qualifier also.

Olympic Trials Qualifier!

I raced at Gary Bjorklund 1/2 marathon 2 weeks ago and was able to hit a big PR and qualify for the long time goal of qualifying for the Olympic Trials. I was a extremely cool experiences when I went to Duluth, Minnesota try and catch the standard. The morning of the race was raining and pretty chilly with what was going to be an good tail wind all the way in to Duluth. Which I knew were prefect conditions to have a shot at running 1.05 or under.

When the gun shot off I went out with the top guys knowing that if i was in the front i would be able to sore out pretty easy who was going to work together to hit 1.05 and under. after about 800 meters it was pretty clear that the lead pack was going much faster then I fancied which was like 4.30ish (I went through at about 4.48). shortly after that a group of about 14 Americans formed that were trying to run the standard. I was in front leading the group through about 9 or 10 miles and I believe we were about 49.24. That was about the time everyone pretty much started to pull away or fall off. I kept it pretty even and felt good but didn't want to make any big moves and keep from blowing up the last couple of miles. I kept holding on and went through the last mile marker and checked my watch for the first time to see where I was and how fast I needed to go to stay on pace. I knew I was close, but I didn't know how close I was until I hit the final turn. I looked up and it still said 1.04 low and I didn't know if I could make it in time to go under 1.05. I put everything I had into the last meters trying catch every second I could. I finished looking up at the clock that said 1.04.58, but there were a lot of questions I was asking my self after that. I didn't know which timing pad my foot crossed with the timing chip, when it crossed, which foot had the chip on it, or the big clock was right or if it was a couple of seconds off. All those things were going though my head and I was just hoping... just hoping that i was lucky enough to do it.

Luckily my former roommate Nate Jenkins and a old missouri friend Adam McDowell was there and is a super awesome guys to calm me down a little bit. when we finished cooling down I went strait the to computer to see my time and... 1.05.02 :( I was kind of bummed but at the same time i PR by over a min. and I know have a new coach! I wasn't on dead end street. I am really close and with the right direction I will completely rock out the next race for a qualifier. Nate and I where hanging out and I called some of my friends and family to let them know the good news of the race, but the small let down of being 2 seconds off. I was saying the results are not official yet and the could change, but I didn't think anything would change. All during the day I kept asking Nate, "do you think they will change the results?" I would again agree and also say, "yeah, i know it's very unlikely." I checked for like the 10th time and I said 1.05.00! I asked Nate if that put's me in or not? we checked USATF race entry and there is another guy that qualified with a 1.05.00 which means i'm in!!!! Nate and I jumped around, hugged, then we talked about how special it is to go, compete at the trials, his 7th place finish last time and how there is nothing like it to run in the race. First race I have ever hit a standard that I was training for and wanted so bad to get. It is one of those unforgettable moments I will always have.

Enjoy the dreams that come true, because time doesn't stop and you might not get another chance.

Thanks for all you the facebook messages, text, and phone calls.

Tommy

June

Well, the month of June has pretty much come and gone and summer is in full swing. The heat is here, and the rain is not, but nothing can be done about that. Its interesting talking to people who live up in the high country and hearing about how much snow is there right now, and how green everything is. Back in 2005 when I moved to Gunnison, over that summer high altitude running was not a problem at all and all of the trails were clear of snow. I hear that running the trails near Crested Butte or even near the Taylor Park area is a no go due to the high amounts of snow, and down here we just would like to have some rain to keep things somewhat normal. So far this season has reminded me of the 2002 year when temps were high and rain was scarce. We also had to deal with the massive Hayman fire among other things such as water restrictions. Well enough about things out of antibody's control, here is a quick recap of whats been going on.
I didn't really race much in May and used the time to train. June has come and gone and racing is in full swing. Many BRC runners have been having great results such as Tommy Neal and the Man Mario Macias, so I wanted to say congrats to the both of them. I have raced 3 times this month and they have all been top quality fields which I have been glad to be part of. I ran the Uni Hill 2k in early June getting beat by James Hatch who ran a great time of 5:49 on a rather hilly and difficult course. I ran 5:55 and another BRC teammate Peter Remien was third in 5:57 I believe. A week later I ran our local Sailin Shoes 5k which is by far the most deep road race in the springs. I have been dealing with a little Achilles tendon issue on my right leg that just doesn't want to give up, so training has been good but not great. The Wednesday before the race didn't help things as I rolled my right ankle during a run. The end result was a 3rd place finish running 15:29. Agustas Mayo tore up the course and broke the record of 14:48 by 1 second, so congrats to him as he is really getting in shape quickly! The most recent race was the Stadium Stampede which was also the USATF Colorado 5k road champs. A pretty good field was assembled with many very good local runners and BRC'S own Scott D, as well as recent CU grad Matt Tebo. It was a bit of a late start (8:30) which did not bode well for anybody as the temps were already in the mid 80's not counting the additional humidity running along the Plate River. Matt would go on the run 15:12 for the win, and I was second in 15:24 (5 seconds were added on to the times for some reason), but there is a twist to the story. Being that this was a Colorado state champ race meant that all qualifications had to be met and the most important one being a USATF Colorado member. Thinking that I had finished second and being very happy about that , I was later informed that I was the winner due to I believe a processing mistake with Matt's membership. I want to make sure that first and for most Matt Tebo gets the credit for the win. He ran a great race and was gracious in what happened and I hope to see him again on the roads, so Matt Congrats. I has a great time with friends Andy Rinne and Chris Bittinger/Joseph Bittinger who went on to win the kids 1k race as well. I also wanted to say congrats to Robby Young, Amanda Ochi, Cassie Slade, Ali Williams and everybody else who has been running well. That's all for now!

Change is difficult

I have recently come to the conclusion that if you are not seeing any progress or disappointed in results you are seeing stop complaining and do something about it.
A couple of weeks ago I went down to the Springs and put myself into a situation I was really uncomfortable with. I felt like I was way out of my league. Being in a room with Renee, Alicia, and countless others I looked up to scared me a little. I couldn't imagine that Scott Simmons and Renato Canova would think I belonged there. I'm actually going to confess to something before I go any further, I didn't even really know who the coaches were other than I saw a few DVD's in our store by Scott. (go ahead laugh your a** off now, I know I know silly rookie) the original reason I decided to take a risk and head down was because I really needed to meet with Jay Dicharry concerning my mechanics. I have known for a long time I do not have very good form just had no idea how to deal with it. I learned so much! I waste so much energy, am very inefficient , my arms are bad, I lean back the list goes on and on. A couple hours with him and I now have a lot of drills and exercises to do to strengthen my weakness. I spent the next three days running on the trails in the Springs (which made me wonder why I ever moved away) with everyone and trying to just soak in everything I could. On my final day in the Springs I had coffee with Scott and Renato to discuss what they thought I was capable of, what my goals were, and what I was willing to do to get there. That's when I decided this was a chance of a lifetime. I couldn't pass it up! Yes I realize I could very well fail, but the odds are just as good that I will succeed. The point is I will NEVER know if I don't try.

Fast forward a couple of weeks............
Most of my family, friends and running community have been very supportive. Yes I have had to deal with some criticism from people close but the important thing is my family is totally supportive of me. When Scott sent me my first four weeks of training I looked at it with eyes wide scared to death. My first thought was there is no way I can do this. The intensity is a lot more than I am use to and my miles have increased. The first thing Scott told me however was do not let your head decide what you can do try it first and than tell me you can or can't. I have definitely surprised myself. I have done a few things new to me, progression runs, hill sprints, jogging recovery (no more stationary), fartlek to name a few. The last two weeks I have hit 90 miles and I feel great! Now there is a "down" side of course. Before I started with Scott I had a couple races on the schedule, Stadium Stampede and our 4th of July 5k. Normally I race every two weeks, I don't really try to peak for one race I just like to race, go fast and of course try for the W. It's hard for me to remember right now there is a big race I'm shooting for, I can not cut back for these little races coming up, I need to keep my training on schedule and just work the races into my progression. What does this mean? It means I go into these next couple races with 90 mile weeks, my legs are still adjusting to the higher mileage and I'm not sure they will have any pop. This is a hard pill for me to swallow, these 5k's could be really slow. I just keep telling myself "eye on the prize" and hope it gets me through these next couple months and to a huge PR in the half.

BIG BIG NEWS IN COLORADO SPRINGS

Great meetings with the American Distance Project in the last couple of days! Scott simmons and Renato Canova have a great plan for the group and we had a great turnout of top level athletes. On the guy's side: Chris Barnicle, Fernando Cabada, Austin Baille, and Me. On the Women's side: Alicia Shay, Rene Metivier Baille, Wendy Thomas, Lindsey Scherf, and Adrian Chouinard.

I met with Jay Dicharry, top in his field of Bio Mechanical research at University of Virginia. He gave me some great advice on my form. I lean over a little too much and put too much weight on my quads which in turn wastes energy. I also need to strenghten my gluteous minimus and stretch my quads a little more so I can get a more balanced leg drive. Great advice and will be doing everything that Jay passed along to T.

Second, I was able to do a workout with Renato and Scott watching on the track. It's kind of ureal when Renato stops me to say that I need to strike more on my forefoot. He gave me some drills to do after my easy runs to help teach me the sensation of striking on my forefoot. That was so cool! Scott and Canova are going to put together a training plan that sets me up for a 1/2 marathon to qualify for the trials in the fall if I need it. Canova also gave me quite a few more things I need to change, but for this race I don't want to change too much. Sunday I have another great opportunity to meet with Scott and Canova for my new training plan and post race review.

There is also going to be an article or two and photos in Running Times Magazine. They will also have online interviews with all participatnts of the 3 day group orientation of the American Distance Project.

I'm planning on qualifying this weekend at Gary Byjorklund 1/2 Marathon and I really only need to hit 4.57 pace. I do feel that I'm in better shape than I was when I raced the 15K champs and that was at 4:58 pace, I believe. So I know I'm ready to roll and go out in 5:00-4:55 for the first mile and then start to plug away.

I will post more after the race this weekend, but I am really excited to get this rolling with my new coaches!

As Paul Harvey would say...

Goooood Day

Tommy

Since I last wrote a lot has happened. Training had been going very well; I was feeling good, my long runs were good and I was really excited about my upcoming racing season and then things took a dive. I got bit by one of my dogs, a bit of an accident (I won't go into the details of the incident), but I ended up in the ER with a plastic surgeon putting about 100 stitches (4 layers) in my chin and lip. Re-constructive surgery is in my future, so training has taken a backseat to healing.

The good news is I am running some and am planning on running my first trail race--the Pikes Peak Ascent (Crazy I know)!! Since I can't train as hard as I want right now, I decided to do something that will be challenging for me and where I have no expectations. I hate running uphill and I am not a trail runner. So this race will be purely for fun and give me something to work towards so I don't become a couch potato (which is very tempting!).

Goings on

It's been a while without running for me, but 6 weeks is already here! Tomorrow, I see the doctor again to get another x-ray. The foot feels good, like it's healed, but it's hard to tell and things will most likely hurt when starting up again. But mentally, I'm ready to go!

Meanwhile, it took some time to get the motivation to go in the pool, but I finally did and it wasn't so bad. Well, the actual swimming was bad but it was relaxing at the same time. Most days I ran in place in the deep end for a mind-numbing amount of time, but yesterday I learned some tips from a buddy who was life-guarding. If my life ever depending on swimming, maybe there's hope after all.

Also meanwhile, I read/am reading a couple books that have been awesome: Ryan Hall's Running with Joy and Born to Run. I finished the first and am still working on the second. Surprisingly, the two books share a similar theme even though they come from very different perspectives: Hall a well-known, professional marathon runner who is a Christian and the Tarahumara people a primitive, isolated community in Mexico known for their ultramarathon ability. In his journey, Hall seeks a pure, simple love of running, something the Tarahumara are born with. In fact, BtR claims we are all born with it but most lose sight when the focus drifts to substitutes. If I didn't love running for it's own sake, I would've quit a long time ago. Health, awards, times, money, and/or recognition are nice bonuses, but that's all they are. I find that when I get excited about these or other things, I start to question why I run. Sometimes I need reminding or better yet, see it discovered in others' stories.

Possible New Coach

It's been a while since I post and I aways keep meaning to post again and again, but I didn't. I have pretty interesting news for the running world of Colorado Springs. So here's the small scoop; Renato Canova is at least going to use Colorado Springs as his American base for his training group. So he is going to have is athletes that are at Pre Classic this weekend move to town for a month to train here. Pretty Cool stuff, however there is more. Canova and Scott Simmons have worked out some deal and Simmons also wants to try to set up a group here in the Springs. So what they are in the process of doing is putting together 2 things. To jump start Simmons training group; Simmons and Canova will have a free Olympic Trials training group starting in October here in Colorado springs to try and get a good group together that wants to stay. To start to fund the group they are have a distance summit in Colorado springs to raise funds for all of this. Here's the website: http://www.americandistanceproject.com/Index/Welcome.html

To me this is awesome, because I don't have to move anywhere and I will have one of the worlds best coaches ever at least living here part time! I pretty sure I'm in on there training group, but I am hoping to get some individualized coaching from both Canova and Simmons.

As for Racing I have only raced once since Penn and it was a small race back home in missouri. It went surprisingly well since I traveled the whole day before and didn't get very much sleep. I ended up running 14.28 ish. Like I said it was a very small race and they didin't really time the race. At the finish i was like 100 meters from the finish, I stopped, and finished with the girl that Race was raising money for. I had about 100 meters to run 18 seconds that would make it 14.28.

AND training.

It's going well the weekend I raced at home in Missouri and I was able to make a good training weekend of it. I had a good race and then a very good long run and closed it out with a good 1k workout on the track in warrensburg. I started off at 3:03, 3:02, 3:01, 3:00, 2.59, 2.55, 2.54, 2.52. I felt good and was able to slowly break it down to a good race pace type of workout. I have a had some up and down weeks since then, yesterday was pretty good. I did a track/road workout. It was a 3 x 2x1k, 1mile road- the 1ks were on a dirt track and again a road mile. I ran 3.06, 3.06, 4.50, 3.06, 3.06, 4.53, 3.11, 3.12, 5.01. I know I was tiered by the end, but I believe it was more the heat and not me blowing up. It was pretty hot when I ran so I pretty sure it was that that kind of slowed me down on the last set.

What's Next...

I'm racing Gary Bjorklund 1/2 marathon in 2 weeks in Duluth, Minn. I know my fitness is there to run under 1.05 and I know I have the endurance to be there too, however it has to be the right day for me to rock it out.

Run Time!

Tommy