Kenya Blog #4: The Journey Home

After my last run and piece of chapati I make my way out to the road in Iten and flag down a matatu as I prepare for the longest day of travelling in my life. I get picked up and shoved into the back seat of the van with about 12 seats but has 18 people squeezed in. So far the journey is pretty routine. We get about 75% of the way to downtown Eldoret when we pull off the road and are told to get out. I’m confused but then see why we didn’t make the whole trip. The road is completely flooded for about the length of a football field. I look around and see tractors going back and forth over the road carrying people. I give 30 shillings to a teenager and he points to a tractor that will bring me to the other side. I climb up into the tractor and step over someone’s goats that are tied up by the hooves. I go to the back and stand back there but we aren’t moving. I start speaking with a Kenyan runner in the back and he tells me is trying to make it to the bank before it closes. I tell him I need to go as well to exchange some American dollars for the last time to have enough Kenyan shillings to make the journey to Nairobi. After we’ve stayed still in the tractor he tells me we need to walk across the water to the other side. We step into the almost knee deep water and start walking on the pavement but there are spots where there are many sharp rocks that have washed onto the road. I’m carrying my backpack with all my clothes and a track bag with my laptop and doing my best to stay on my feet and not get knocked down by the current and have to buy a new computer when I return to the states. My new friend takes my hand and we help each other remain from falling as we cross together. People crossing from the other side see me and laugh saying things like, “This is Africa, Mzungo.” We reach the other side and after putting my shoes back on I let out a sigh of relief that nothing besides my feet and the bottom of my jeans got wet. Quickly we jump in another matatu and make it to the bank. We tell the driver we’re trying to make the bank before it closes at 2 pm so he drives us all the way there and we make it through the door at 1:58. I get some more Kenyan currency and then walk down the road to the matatus that go all the way to Nairobi. I was making a very brave decision to take the 6 hour matatu instead of a 40 minute flight because I wanted to see more of the country. The longer voyage turned out to be worth it as I got to see different views of the immense beauty of the Rift Valley and a short stop in Nakuru for some more unexpected chapati.

After we arrived in Nairobi I took a short cab ride to Kenyatta International Airport and made it through customs but then airport security wouldn’t let me carry on my massage stick as they said it could be used as a weapon and since I didn’t have enough time to check it in I had to leave it. Just ridiculous how much of a pain in the ass flying has become since 9/11. All this fighting on “terrorism” and waste of tax dollars but people still live in enough fear to think I might hijack a plane with this: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?pq=tsa&hl=en&sugexp=pfwe&cp=11&gs_id=2w&xhr=t&q=massage+stick&tok=8f1olpRSSo-7or4H_7t2DA&safe=off&biw=1366&bih=667&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=18357550981422333790&sa=X&ei=7lPeTv-TBMmC2wWpuaCnBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CIEBEPICMAE

I was pretty upset but knew it was a battle I couldn’t win so I let it go. The rest of the journey went as follows: 9 hour flight to London, 6 hour layover in London, 10 hour flight to Denver, 5 hour layover in Denver, one hour flight to a very cold Albuquerque and then lastly a 10 minute drive home. 46 hours of travelling and never had I felt so exhausted before in my life. It’s been nice to be back in the US and have a stove with multiple stove tops to cook different things at once, a washing and drying machine for cleaning clothes instead of scrubbing dirt off by hand and throwing them on the line to dry, and many other things we have that we unfortunately take for granted but I’m already missing the warmhearted people of Kenya. This morning I stepped outside the front door and started walking to the grocery market. I said hello to the first person I saw and was completely ignored. In Kenya we probably would have stopped and talked for a few minutes about randomness but in the US everyone is too concerned about themselves to acknowledge the existence of anyone else. Hakuna matata Kenya! You’ll be extremely missed.

Kenya Blog #3: Losing Weight the Wrong Way

My training here in my first three weeks here was opposite of my last two. When I first got here I was running some of the best workouts of my life and finishing workouts with 59 minute half marathoners. I felt like I was on top of the world and couldn’t wait for January 14th to come to compete for a precious spot on the US Olympic Marathon Team. Then one night after spending the day in Eldoret with a friend and his family my training took a very unexpected and unfortunate turn. That night I didn’t sleep a wink as my stomach was making louder noises than the thunder outside. I got out of bed every 10 minutes for Montezuma’s revenge in Kenya. Did I drink tap water? The next morning I called my friend and asked if his wife had served me tap water with my dinner. She said she didn’t and that it was bottled. I wanted to believe him but my stomach was telling me something else. I had no appetite and couldn’t swallow food so I just kept drinking tea or chai as it’s called in Kenya at the little restaurants they oddly call hotels here. I drank cup after cup of tea not knowing I was making the problem intensely worse. I never did drink tap water but I drank an absurd amount of milk in the tea. The difference between milk here and in the US is here it comes straight from the cow’s utter outback and into your cup of tea. The idea that it’s pure and natural sounds like it should be healthier but for someone who their whole life has drank pasteurized milk it creates an absolute atomic bomb out your bowels. This problem went off and on for days. The days I didn’t have to go the bathroom every 5 minutes and could manage a run I was extremely dehydrated but just thought my iron was low so I went back to my little hut and increased the amount of iron pills I was taking which didn‘t help and probably made my condition worse. Then I couldn’t complete the crucial long runs of 30k at 3:20 per kilometer and it was the second time I had missed this type of training. Renato told me this is a serious problem and it was really hard to grasp but I knew he was right. I couldn’t compete in a marathon like the Olympic Trials without adequate long runs in the 8 weeks prior to the trials. I was missing the most crucial training. A hard long run is the staple for every marathoner runner. It is with the deepest regret that I say I won’t be participating in the 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon. After missing about 10 days of training and those long runs it would be like going to a gun fight with a pocket knife. I’ve been feeling pretty down and shitty (no pun intended) about it but I just have to leave the past and focus on the future and competing for a spot on the Olympic Team in Eugene in the 10,000 meters. I know it will by no means be easy and with a personal best of 28:10 I will by no means be a favorite and won’t even be a dark horse for many. But with the wealth of knowledge I’ve learned in my six weeks in Kenya I’m extremely confident that my running will reach new levels. I could dictate everything I’ve seen in the training in some of the best in the world and the training methodology of a genius like Renato Canova but instead I’ll leave you all with the most important lesson I’ve learned here: you can train hard anywhere in the world. Besides the extraordinary amount of dominant runners here there is nothing more special here in Iten than there is anywhere else I’ve trained. I’m by no means saying I won’t come back. Kenya is a country beyond beautiful with a picturesque landscape and people with a level of friendliness unmatched by any other country I’ve been to. I never got sick of every little kid running up to me and saying with a precious smile, “Mzungo! How are you?” The thing is though that the training done here is nothing complex that can’t be done in the US. Mo Farah trained here for a year and became European Champion but then moved to Oregon and won the World Championships. There really is no magic here. Just pure hard training and a mentality and desire to be the best in the world.

Kenya Blog #2: What Makes the Kenyans the Best?

Everyone seems to have their own idea on what makes Kenya the best long distance running nation in the world’s history. After coming here I thought I’d share mine. Before I say what I believe makes them so great I’ll start off by saying what aren’t the reasons.
Is it the climate? Certainly not. I’ve been here over a month now and the conditions have been less than ideal for training at least half of the days. It rains nearly every night making the beautiful dirt roads a muddy mess. There is one paved road that goes through town but most of the Kenyans like to avoid as they worry the pounding on the harder surface will get them injured, and the Kenyan drivers have no fear in hitting a pedestrian. On the days it rains many runners here only run once around 3 pm when the sun has shined on the roads enough to clear up some of the mud. But on days after a very hard night’s rainfall some take a day off. And as far as altitude goes while I do see this as a benefit it’s not like the Rift Valley is the only place at altitude. How come there’s not more world class runners born and raised in Colorado, Quito, or Nepal? Unfortunately, because of global warming the rainy season started late as it usually starts in April but started in May and is now still continuing into mid December. During the dry season Kenya may be the best place in the world to train but right now strictly based on weather I would have been better staying in Albuquerque where it’s been 50 degrees and sunny most days.

It’s genetics that makes them better, right? This is the worst excuse I’ve ever seen in athletics and those of the Anglo race really need to quit believing this. While there are many good Kenyan runners not everyone is. Every top runner here has had to work hard to get to the world class level.

Then there is the idea that they all run to school, home for lunch, back to school, and then home again. I use to believe this before I came here but now I see it’s not true. The kids here aren’t getting dropped off by buses or SUV’s like they are in the United States but they aren’t running to school either. Most walk but so did most of my friends and I when we were growing up, except most of middle school we all met up and biked together (good memories). So like I said the kids walk to school and some do come home for lunch but from what I’ve seen and heard the furthest distance they come is 1.5 miles or so. They aren’t running 20 miles a day to school, home, school, and home again like many think they are establishing a huge aerobic base from an early age that carries them on to success. The one thing that I have seen though is that while everyone seems to have a pair of shoes I do see many children playing barefoot or in thin sandals. For those that believe Born to Run and how barefoot running builds stronger feet, greater ankle strength, and improves running economy this is something that is very interesting. But every runner here runs in trainers unless they are on the track they wear racing flats. I was very pleased to escape the US craze of Vibrams where everyone who owns a pair thinks they’re some running guru.

Many of those on Letsrun.com would say that performance enhancing drugs is what makes the East African runners so great. They have obviously have never come here. I’ve yet to see one fridge here so I have no clue how’d they store their drugs. I 100% believe that every Kenyan performance is legitimate.

The real reason why the Kenyans dominate distance running is quite simple. Money. Contrary to the United States being a professional runner in Kenya is a very profitable profession. Many go to a race in Europe or America win $10,000 and return home with more than enough money to feed themselves and their family for a year and then some. In the United States I think most people compete in running because they love the physical exercise, testing their body against others and themselves, or the glory of accomplishing their biggest goals. People in Kenya have those same ambitions but then they also have that extra motivation to win some money to buy an extra cow for the family or a new plot of land to expand their farm. These monetary desires creates an environment where others start chasing the same dream when they see their neighbor supporting himself with his/her legs and think they can do it also. I think this is the reason why the marathon world record has exploded in the last two years as many Kenyan athletes are skipping their careers on the track and going straight to the marathon where the amount of money to be won is far greater than on the track.

So if the United States ever wants to have the same depth of top quality runners as Kenya all we have to do is hope the economy will just crash further and we’ll all become professional runners to support ourselves.

Kenya Blog #1: Take a Seat and Hang On!

We’ve already ran 6k on the track and we’re barely half way done. I’ve been sitting in the back of the pack letting everyone else do the work and I feel like I should take a few laps and help out. Maybe it will help myself earn some respect and they’ll accept me as a runner for it. In between the rest of the last repetition I tell some of the guys I’ll lead the next one. They all nod their heads in agreement. We toe the line and swiftly take off running 67 seconds a lap. There’s only one other Mzungo (white person) at the track today and he’s yelling out our times as he writes each 400m split onto his clipboard. I look around a little but not at the other runners behind me, rather the 200 plus people at the track staring at me and it feels eerie. A hundred meters later I realize they’re just curious and I start wondering what they’re thinking. “Who is this crazy Mzungo?” “Is he really trying to run with these guys?” “When will he fall off the pace?” The eerie feeling turns into a rush and a smile creeps across my face as we finish the 800 meter repeat.

“2:14! Ok. This ok. Chris! You always run on your toes? This no good for a long distance runner. Sprinter or even mid distance ok but not 10,000 meter runner or marathoner.” I’m usually not one who believes in changing form after having a running style I’ve had for years but when the advice is coming from one of the most brilliant coaches in history you have to at least listen. Renato Canova is instructing me on how I must land further back on my heels and is pointing out the different runners around the track and how they all land back on their heels. All I can do is agree as I examine the many other athletes and their flawless form.
We run a few more 800s and it’s getting warm. I take off my shirt and hear giggles from children nearby watching. I look around and see nobody else has their shirt off but me. Oh well I figure. Most of us finish the workout but a few others carry on. Canova tells me to watch one of his 1500m runners and see how he lands back on his heels by slightly crouching with his form as if he‘s almost in a seated position. For someone that enjoys running as much as me I just stood in awe at his immaculate form run 2 x 400 at the end of a workout with 12k volume in 52, 52. To me, watching him run was watching art in motion. We finish and I start cooling down with him. His name is Simon and he never told me his last name. I come to find out he’s ran 3:31 for 1500 meters. I then ask him if he ever races on this track or just does workouts. He tells me he’s ran 1:45 for 800 meters here. 1:45 is a pretty sensational time but running that fast on a dirt track at 7300 feet is just insane. He blows my mind even more when he tells me he doesn’t have a contract for this year. I laugh to myself about how much money an American runner would make with a 3:31 personal best, but in Kenya Simon is just another dude. After only 600 meters of a cool down they all seem satisfied and we make the drive back from the outer edge of Eldoret to Iten.

The next morning I’m feeling adventurous and decide I want to find a new loop to run. I hadn’t ran behind St. Patrick’s High School yet so I figure I’ll venture that way. While some of the roads aren’t too shabby from the rainstorm the night before others are in terrible condition and the further I run the more the road I’m on turns into a mud bath. I come to a fork in the road and turn left as it’s less muddy than my option to the right. I keep running down this road further and further and suddenly it comes to an abrupt end. I make the brave decision to not turn around and instead go down a farm path. Usually I’d like to think I have a pretty decent sense of direction, but today I must have left that skill back at home. I continue further and further through farm land and then finally admit to myself I’m lost. The only thing that kept my spirits high was the incredible beauty as I looked around the Great Rift Valley. I see some farmers and ask them if they know the way back to town. They point in the direction I was heading and I feel like everything is going to work out. I continue some more but can’t see Iten in any direction and get worried again. I see another farmer carrying a sack of bananas and ask him for directions. He takes a deep breath and then just shakes his head side to side violently for a very long 20 seconds or so. I’m speechless and just carry on running. Finally the farm trail leads to a new road and I start running up that. I see an old man and what I assume is his grandson sitting by the road. Again, I ask for directions and they point in the direction I’m heading. So I restate my question, “Which way to Iten?”

The old man shakes his head and says, “Long ways. You’re closer to Kapsabaru (sp?)”
Shit. I sit down next to them and accept the fact I’m going to have to turn around and run another 13 miles home. Then off in the distance I see a truck coming down the dirt road. I’ve hitchiked in the US before and now it’s time to try it in Africa. I flag down the vehicle and see that it’s actually a matatu (a Kenyan taxi) and there’s other passengers. Most matatus in Kenya are passenger vans that sit about 15 or so people but they squeeze 20 or more in. This matatu drives on the back dirt roads of Kenya to avoid police so they can fit double the maximum occupancy permitted inside and then sit about six people up on the roof. One of the workers who collects the fare from the passengers points to the roof and instructs me to climb up. I ask myself how dangerous this is going to be. I shrug my shoulders and climb up. I join four other men clinging onto the side of the roof and we start driving. So to clarify, this matatu has about 25 people crammed inside like sardines, 5 people sitting on the roof and there’s three people standing on the bumper holding on as we drive 30 miles an hour on muddy dirt roads. The second we start moving and bending around turns I’m cursing myself and convinced I’m going to meet my fate soon. I’m holding on to a couple crossbars that are on top but every bump (and there are many) I feel like I’m about to fall off. We continue for a few miles and then I’m joined by a few others on top. One of my fellow passengers sits directly on my feet but I’m pleased as I think he’ll weigh me down and help avoid from falling off. I’m sitting on the back edge of the van staring at the ground below pass us by preparing for an expected fall when I hear someone sitting up top with me but in the front yell something in Swahili. I turn around and see a thick branch coming at my head and duck in time to keep myself from falling to pieces. “Holy shit!” I screamed. This caused all the other men up there to start hysterically laughing. One even laughed so hard he almost fell off, then he regained his balance, and we all started laughing together. I then realized how this may feel like a near death experience for a Mzungo like me but for these people who commute from the rural villages to Eldoret or Iten it’s just a part of their daily commute.

We approach town and the matatu stops. The fare collector tells me that everyone on top is going to either squeeze in with people inside or hang on to the very back with the others because if the police see us on top we’ll get fined. So if there is a cop car approaching the other way those on the bumper will “just jump off.” A few squeeze inside with the others but it’s so packed that the door can’t close. I’m standing on the bumper directly in front of the wide open door where there is an elderly man bent over in front of me and every bump we went over he slammed into my pelvis. The homoerotic position we were in had me giggling and I wondered what the elderly man was thinking. Finally we made it to where the dirt road ends and the matatu stops to avoid the police on the paved road. I told the fare collector I had no money on me as I obviously wasn’t planning on getting lost. I tell him I’ll meet him later and give him the 50 Kenyan Shillings (about forty five cents) I owe. He says don’t worry about it. I start walking home very grateful to be without even a scratch and watch as the matatu turns around and takes some more back roads to take the rest of the passengers to Eldoret. I promise myself to not get lost again in Kenya.

Reminiscing on Colorado After Returning to New Mexico

I’ve just returned back to the Land of Enchantment for the first time in about 5 months. I’m happy to be back in Albuquerque for about a week before I fly out to Kenya on the evening of the 31st. I’m excited to be back with old teammates, friends, and the glorious Sandia Mountains. When I drove across the state line on 285 a grin crossed my face. It’s difficult for me to say which state I prefer but I have many beautiful memories from my time in New Mexico that makes the state feel more like home.

Now I sit in the Fine Arts Library in Albuquerque staring at the Sandias and think back to the five months I spent in Colorado and reflect. This past weekend I saw more of the state than I did the whole rest of the time I was visiting. On Friday morning after my workout I drove up to Denver for some urban sightseeing. I visited Occupy Denver, chatted with some of the protesters, and was happy to see them still holding strong after a few clashes with the police in the past month. I ate my packed sandwich and took a stroll down Colfax before driving to City Park for an easy shake out run and spectating the cross country city championships for Denver high schools. After the run I got back in my car and drove to the hostel I was planning on staying in for the night. Normally when I’m travelling I enjoy staying in hostels as I feel they’re a great environment for meeting people from different places who are willing to share their travelling stories. As I parked my car and entered the hostel I was already a bit skeptical just based on the shady characters outside, but then when I entered I realized this wasn’t a hostel, this is a rooming house. I asked to see what the rooms looked like and when I was shown my room and realized my neighbor was a crackhead I apologized and told the clerk I wouldn’t be staying tonight. I left in a state of shock that this place was listed as one of the better hostels in Denver by wikitravel and hostelworld.com. I felt like trying somewhere else so I  jumped in the car and drove up the 36 to Boulder. My night in Boulder was a night I’ll remember for a while as I had a great time meeting brilliant people who were extremely friendly. Someone mentioned Robert Randolph and the Family Band was playing down by Pearl Street and the next second I was loving life listening to them jam out. I was only there for a short while but I absolutely fell in love with Boulder. The city seems to have everything I could ever need with an amazing social atmosphere and some of the most beautiful trails my feet have ever trotted upon.

The next morning after a jog along the creek path I headed back to Denver to watch some of my friends from Adams State compete in their conference meet. The race was definitely the most exciting cross country race I’ve ever spectated. I cannot say I’ve ever seen a stronger rivalry in running than the one between Adams State and Western State. I almost felt like I was at Fenway Park and seeing Red Sox fans yelling obscenities at anyone brave/foolish enough to wear a Yankees hat. It was simply amazing to be there and feel the tension between these two teams and then have the rivalry be more amped up with such a close race. This type of rivalry is just what the sport needs. I tried thinking of other rivalries in college cross country but I doubt any come close to paralleling this one. After the race I drove down into the Mexican community of Denver for a giant plate of milanesa and then with my stomach satisfied made the return trip to the Springs.

I had such a great time in the Boulder and Denver area that I wasn’t too pleased to be returning to the Springs. It’s a beautiful place for running but the residents and social life is not very stimulating. With the Rocky Mountain town being full of many Conservatives and Evangelical Christians as well as being the former preaching grounds of famous pastor Ted Haggard it’s a lot like the pretty girl you went to high school with who is extremely religious. She’s great to look at but is a very dull personality and not really worth the time chatting to. However, I am still very grateful for the new friendships I made in the Springs, the miles I put on around the beautiful Rockies, and the time I was fortunate to have in the Olympic Training Center. I would definitely like to return but I don’t know if I’d stay as long as I did this time.

Anyways, now I’m happy to back in the place I’ve called home for the past three odd years even if I’m just here for a bit then flying across the world. I’ll most likely return here after my trip to Kenya for the two weeks I’ll have back before the trials where the weather should be moderate and I’ll still be at altitude. Then after the trials I’m not sure where I’ll go but I’m sure it will be an adventure as my whole running career has been.

Week of 10/17 to 10/23 Training:

10/17 AM: 7.5 Miles easy around Memorial Lake

PM: 10.5 Miles at Monument Valley Park and then 10 x 80 meter hills.

10/18 AM: 12 Miles w/ last 6 hard in 33 minutes.

PM: 7.5 miles after a light lifting session.

10/19 AM: 12 x K in 2:57-3:01.

PM: 6.5 Miles around Lake

10/20 AM: 9 Miles around Memorial Lake

PM: 11.5 Miles at MVP

10/21 AM: 3 x 2 Mile (9:51, 9:53, 9:56) 1 x Mile (4:55).

Pm: 5 Miles very easy in Denver’s City Park

10/22 AM: 5 Miles on Boulder Creek Path

10/23: 24 Miles in Woodland Park. First 21 very hard and hilly and last three nearly a walk. My friend Joseph Chirlee and I went for a run up there, got lost, and ended up having to hitchhike back. Crazy Sunday morning.

129.5 Miles total.

Never Underestimate the Importance of Recovery

I spent this week trying to glue my legs back together after the beating I gave them last weekend in my first half marathon. Everyone responds different to recovering from a race, workout, tough session lifting weights or whatever and I needed to see how my body responds to longer races. I wanted to ease on the cautious side this week as I prepare for what I think will be the last race of the fall at the USA Championship 10 Miler in Minneapolis. After that race I will take a few easy days and then go into marathon training phase for the three months leading up to the trials in January. This week I really tried to relax and didn’t time any of my runs except for the long today. I think recovery is something that is not discussed enough in proper training programs. One runner who I’ve heard speak copious times about regenerating the body is Ryan Hall explaining his logic behind taking one day off a week. I’m not sure if I 100% agree with taking a day off every week but I do agree with some of his logic especially how forcing hard training and not allowing the body to fully recover can be a sign of lack in one’s confidence. Luckily this week I had a good friend Spencer Grimes from my Arkansas days in town and spent the first two days fishing and driving up Pike’s Peak. I look at Pike’s Peak numerous times a day when I walk between my room and the Olympic Training Center dining hall but hadn’t been to the top until this Tuesday. I was very proud of my Honda Civic as it battled it’s way up to the top in it’s lowest gear. 

At the top of Pike's Peak with some fresh snow from the night before.

Recovery week training:

9/19: 7 Miles very slow on Santa Fe trail.

9/20: 9 Miles even slower on Santa Fe trail.

9/21 AM: 8 Miles at moderate pace around Memorial Lake

Pm: 9 Miles around Monument Valley Park.  Legs finally starting to come back.

9/22 Am: 10 Miles to Bear Park

Pm: 9 Miles around Monument Valley park and then 10 x 80 meter hills.

9/23 AM: Was suppose to workout but didn’t feel right after strides so just did warm up. 4 Miles.

PM: 5 Miles on Santa Fe trail from Woodmen trailhead.

9/24 AM: 20 x 200 on grass. Didn’t bother timing intervals and just went by pure feel. 12 Miles total with long warm up and cool down.

PM: 6 Miles at Monument Valley Park plus 10 x 80 meter hills.

9/25: 18 miles from South end of Santa Fe trail towards Fountain. Last 11 miles in 62 minutes.

97 miles total for the week.

What I’m most excited for this week/tonight is the return of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire which I see as the greatest show on television today (sorry, Breaking Bad) and could replace The Soprano’s as the best gangster genre television series ever and that’s a bold statement to make. I really hope the writers give some more attention to Michael K. Williams character of Chalky White. Williams was beyond brilliant as Omar Little on The Wire and the few scenes he’s had on Boardwalk Empire he has really shined.

 

 

Rock and Roll Philadelphia 1/2 Marathon

13.1 Miles is not too far when you think about it. Most long distance runners do a long run every weekend of at least 14 miles so racing a distance just shy of a mile shorter shouldn’t be too hard right? Well actually it wasn’t too hard. Having never raced the half marathon distance before and not knowing what to expect the night before the race I spoke to my friend Ben Fletcher who I had trained with occasionally in New Mexico on what to expect and he described the distance as a “long and hard tempo run.” The next morning I would find his description extremely accurate. I only wish the race had gone as tempo runs are meant to be with either a consistent pace per mile or a progressive tempo run where the pace increases throughout. Instead I went out the first 10k of the race at 4:41 mile race, slowing down to 4:45 pace by ten miles and then by the finish line I had slowed down to just under 4:47 pace average for the entire race. Going into the race I had a very ambitious goal of breaking 62 minutes and a realistic goal of breaking 63 minutes. I knew from my workouts that if things went smoothly I would likely finish somewhere in the middle of those two goals. The first 9 miles of the race I went after the goal of breaking 62 minutes as I ran with Bobby Curtis who would finish in 1:01:52 and Samuel Ndereba who would finish in 1:02:08. Just past nine miles I felt those two surging and having no clue what to expect of my body for the next 4.1 miles I let them go and ran alone until Ridouane Harroufi came up and sat on me at 12.5 miles as we ran into the wind and then out kicked me in the last 150 meters. I was pretty pleased with the race as it was a great improvement from Falmouth where I was pretty disappointed with my performance. Looking at how the last 4 miles were my slowest shows I need to work on my strength more and continue the weekly hard long runs of 18 to 22 miles. Considering I was hurt from February to May and was the laziest cross trainer ever I must be happy to see how training is coming along and fitness is improving steadily each week. Coming into the race I really wanted to show to people how I truly believe I’m a contender in January for one of those three spots to London. Immediately after the race when I thought of this I realized how unimportant that is and all I really needed to do was prove to myself and myself alone that I can compete in the longer distances like the half marathon and the marathon. I know I have a lot of work to do between now and January 14th and I look forward to miles of trials to come in training and in racing in these days leading up to my marathon debut in Houston.

PS. The Rock and Roll Marathon series really puts on a great race. I tried counting all the bands that I ran by on the plane ride home and couldn’t remember but there was a very eclectic variety of bands. Being in Philadelphia I would have preferred having The Roots performing on the course but you can’t always get what you want.

Training leading up to the race:

9/12 AM: 9 Miles plus strides and core.

PM: 6 Miles easy. Jumped over a bunch of trash cans as I day dreamed about running a steeple this year.

9/13 AM: 2 x Mile in 4:31, 4:27 followed by 2 x 400 in 59 and 57. 10 Miles with warm up and cool down included.

PM 6 Miles plus 10 x 80 meter hills and then weights.

9/14 AM 9 Miles at Woodmen trailhead in 59 minutes.

PM: Core and 6 miles on treadmills averaging 6 minute pace.

9/15 AM: 10 Miles

PM 6 Miles plus 5 x 80 meter hills and easy lifting.

9/16 AM: 9 Miles with last 2 miles of fartlek in 10:15.

PM: 6 Miles easy

9/17: Off. Travelling all day.

9/18 Philly Half. 1:02:43. 18 Miles total with warm up and cool down.

95 Miles total for the week.

Thoughts on World Champs and Past Two Weeks Training

Many of our brightest stars in American distance running proved in Daegu, South Korea that the resurgence of distance running here in the United States is more than just a hope. It’s an honest tossup to say who I was most  impressed with. I was delighted to see fellow New Balance athlete and Colorado Springs resident Jenny Simpson shock the world and even herself with an astonishing kick in the last 100m of the women’s 1500 meters to take home the gold. Then University of Oregon star Matt Centrowitz raced like a seasoned professional in the heats and finals to return home with a bronze medal. Galen Rupp ran courageous in both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. Seeing him sitting on the king of distance running, Kenenisa Bekele, before the Ethiopian who was just returning from injury dropped out showed that he truly had no fear and displayed true confidence running with the world’s best.

However, it wasn’t an American who inspired me the most. The young Irishman, Ciaran Mad Len O’ Lionaird, reinforced two lessons in running. First, running is meant to be enjoyable. Here is a guy who has had his shares of struggles. Hearing about him getting injured and tired from leaving it all in workouts with Nick Willis and Nate Brannen when he was at the University of Michigan reminded me of some of my days at Arkansas where I got so pumped up for a Tuesday workout and ran behind track studs like Alistair Cragg, Josephat Boit, and Mark Fountain on workouts like 5 x 1,000m in 2:35 but then come race time on Saturday I felt flat and ran 8:10 3ks or 4:06 mile races. At Florida State Ciaran raced mostly 5,000 meters and 10,000 meter races. We only saw a glimpse of his ability at 1,500 meters when he defeated Robby Andrews in the distance at the ACC championships. Then the guy went to Europe deciding to begin his professional career enjoying the European circuit and focused mostly on 5,000 meter races and under. One night in Belgium he decided to run a 1,500 meter race and have a good time. He certainly had a good time as he ran 3:34 qualifying him for the World Championships. This brings me to the second lesson to be learned from Ciaran which is running a variety of distances. So often in the NCAA runners seemed to be labeled to a certain event and can often become stale running the same race over and over. Here is a guy who was labeled a long distance runner and didn’t have the chance to race many middle distance races then completes his eligibility and shines in the 1,500 meters at the world level. Don’t get me wrong now, I think the NCAA is a great developmental program for all of the track athletes in the program but I think too often coaches become focused on scoring points at conference, regionals, and nationals so they train a kid to get a regional qualifier in a certain event and then that kid is stuck in that event. I honestly don’t know how you can have athletes race at a range of races while maintaining the great team races that are amazing to watch at conference championships and NCAA’s but I think for the programs that have the budget to race often that it is important to race the athletes at different distances to prevent them from getting stale at one distance. Right now I am training for the marathon trials on Jan 14th and there is often a negative attitude about returning to the track after racing a marathon. What must be preached over and over is that strength is speed and returning to the track after racing a marathon should lead to great improvements at the shorter distances.

Anyways, I’m racing the Philadelphia Half Marathon this Sunday. It will be my first half and I am greatly excited and have big goals. Here is the last two weeks that have been two of the best weeks of training in my life. Note: on 9/6 I had a Canova “Special Block” day where there are two very different workouts in one day. It was very challenging but I think it is a great training tool to do two workouts in one day. It was also great to see Canova come on letsrun and detail his training on the message boards. I don’t see why so many other coaches are shy about detailing what their athletes do. Running is so simple and not meant to be complicated so I really can’t imagine they have some magic formula.

8/29 AM: 12 Miles finishing last two miles in 11 flat.

PM 5 Miles and then 12 x 80 meter hills

8/30 AM: 7 X Mile in 4:37 avg on track. Three and a half minutes rest

PM 5 Miles. Day was 20 miles total with warm up and cool down included.

8/31 11.5 Miles

PM 7.5 Miles plus strides and weights

9/1 AM 10.5 Miles

PM 6.5 Miles

9/2 AM 10 Mile progression run starting at 6 minute pace and coming down to 4:42 last mile. 15 Miles total with warm up and cool down

PM 5 Miles. Saw a bear and her cub on the trail. Crazy beautiful to see.

9/3 AM 10 Miles. Last 4 at 6 minute pace.

PM 4 Miles nice and easy

9/4 21 Miles in 2:10. Ran up to 7700 feet.

Week total 128 Miles. Shocked that my legs are still intact.

9/5 Am: 12 Miles easy

PM: 5 Miles and then 12 x 80 m hills

9/6 Special Block Day AM: 6 Mile tempo in 31:01

PM 10 x 500 in 1:18 avg with 2 minute rest. Rainy and windy on track but it  just makes you tougher. 21 total.

9/7 AM 16 Miles at Rampart Rez which is 10,000 to 11,000 feet elevation. Was sucking for air whole way.

9/8 Am 10 Miles moderate

PM 9 Miles moderate

9/9 AM 10 Mile slight progression run in 50:40. May be a bit short. 15 total.

PM 6 Miles mod with strides and core

9/10 AM 5 Miles

PM 5 Miles. Needed recovery day.

9/11 16 Mile easy in 1:37.

Week total 120 Miles

The Barnicle Death

In the past couple years I’ve experienced what has been phrased by friends and former teammates at the University of New Mexico as “the standard Barnicle death.” After experiencing the death this past weekend in the last 2 miles of the Falmouth Road Race I figured I really needed to sit down and think hard about the cause of the Barnicle death as it’s effects have had tragic results on my racing. In the race this past weekend I went out with the leaders at 9:02 for 2 miles and paid for it running 5:15 for the last two miles. I greatly struggled with my breathing the last 1.5 miles of the race and couldn’t get any oxygen to my legs as I shuffled up the finishing hills on the course. I reflected on the death during the car ride home to Boston which took about two and a half hours with one hour just trying to get out of the post-race traffic of Falmouth. So what caused the death this weekend? Was I not ready to go out as fast as I did having not raced since January? Do I not have enough base work and long runs to allow me to finish strong in a 7 mile race? Should I be regretting how lazy I was with cross training when I was hurt? And what about the difficulties I had breathing? Was it some unknown asthma? Should I start taking allergy medication as I did in 2010? Was it just the humidity? These are all questions I have to look at as I resume my training and prepare for my next race which will be the Philadelphia Half Marathon on September 18th. Sometimes you can find beauty in a bad race as it really allows you to reflect on errors in training. I’ve decided to list some of the most notorious deaths at the end of races I’ve experienced. As frustrating as they are I can still somehow manage to find some humor in them too.

Providence 5k Road race 2008: Sitting in about 5th place with what I thought was just over a 1/4 mile to go I started kicking and move into 4th. We come around the next corner and there’s 300m steep hill that leads to finish that felt like Mt. Everest as I climbed up that hill nearly on all fours and faded to 9th.

New Mexico Invitational Jan 2009: In my first race ever at altitude I somehow was dumb enough to think I could hit a PR before the altitude conversion and made a big move in the last 1/3 of the race. With about 300m to go I ran into the lactic wall and and ran about another 50 meters before realizing there was no oxygen left for me to inhale in the stadium and I stepped off the track and collapsed on the infield.

Stanford 10K May 2009: Feeling great with about 600 meters left in the race I moved up with the leaders before getting ready to move with about 400 meters left. At 300 meters from the finish line I dashed to the front and in an attempt to win dug in even deeper. At about 150 meters from the line my body switched off and I looked like a swimmer doing the breaststroke the last 150 meters. Fortunately, I somehow managed to still get a fast enough time to qualify me in the 10k for NCAA’s.

NCAA XC Nationals Nov 2009: Coming into the meet I was confident I could run an All-American performance and ran in the front pack for the first 8k. I fell off a bit until 9k but was still within about the top 40 with 800 meters to go as you dash to the finish. Each 100 meters I felt worse and worse and then about 15 meters from the finish line I collapsed on the giant blue NCAA symbol landing face down in the grass. I layed there for what felt like an eternity before I heard our Assistant Coach Butler’s familiar voice screaming, “Chris! Chris! Get the fuck up!” I looked him dead in the eye and then began to try to stand up. Looking over my right shoulder I see and feel German Fernandez hurdle over me. I fall back down and literally crawled the remaining 15 meters to the finish placing 108th as I let my team down and ruined our hopes for a top four podium finish with my poor performance.

Mt. Sac April, 2010: Since NCAA Indoor’s a few weeks earlier my roommate, teammate and good friend Lee Emanuel had been trash talking on who would win when we matched up at 5,000 meters in California chasing after the school record. Because we’re good friends we were both aware that the trash talk was friendly but there was a lot of pride on the line. Lee had just won his second straight NCAA indoor mile title and I had just placed 4th in the NCAA 5k and broken the indoor UNM school record. We shook hands on the starting line and Lee said “See you at the finish line, mate.” I shook my head and smiled knowing it was about to be thirteen and a half minutes of war. Ironically, we ran together throughout most of the race and helped each other out as teammates should. When I came through the finish line with 3 laps to go I had the boldest idea. “Let’s see if I can run three minutes flat for the last 1200 meters,” I thought to myself and began running away from Lee. I maintained the suicidal pace until 400 meters to go when I made another move as I wanted to run sub 60 for the last 400 meters. I had gone from mid pack to right behind the leaders in a very competitive race. Lee had let me go thinking that the long distance runner had beaten the mid distance runner that night with a long strength kick. But suddenly it felt like I had been shot. Coming around the turn with less than 200 meters to go I looked like a crippled old man. I stumbled into the second lane and nearly got knocked over by a few runners. Lee’s eyes lit up like a fat kid in a candy shop and he turned the V8 engine on and motored his way past me for a new school record of 13:31. I straggled my way in the last 80 meters and got beat by our other training partner and former lobo Jeremy Johnson who leaned past me at the finish line. I don’t think I’ll ever be more upset with a 7 second 5k pr but kudos to Lee for not completely throwing in the towel. I ran my last 1200 meters in 3:08 but with a last 200 meters in a pedestrian 39 seconds.

Liege, Belgium 3k July 2010: Getting ready for my last race of the season in my first summer racing tour in Europe I didn’t know what to think when I heard the leaders were coming through the mile of the 3k in 4:02-4:04. I figured I would get on the back and hang and try to close solid and catch a few stragglers. When the gun went off I managed the best start of my life ever at the beginning of a race and was thrown straight into the thick of things and sitting behind a couple Kenyan rabbits. Coming through the first 400 meters in 60 I was already cursing myself for being a fool but it was too late to back off. I somehow let off a little and came through the mile in 4:07 and then 2,000 meters in 5:09. Unbelievably I felt alright at 2k and thought it was a decent idea to pick it up. Boy was that a foolish decision. I came through with 400 meters to go and looked up at the sky asking the air gods to deliver a gust of Belgian wind down my throat that would help me maintain pace. But they never answered as I ran a 74 second last quarter and finished in 8:01.

So as I said earlier this is a clear problem that I need to look at. Is it mental? Possibly somewhat. I definitely believe that the best kickers in the world have a mental aspect that enforces the idea in their minds that they are unbeatable in a kick at the end of the race. It must be said however that not every race finish is the same. When I ran 28:10 for 10k I kicked the last 400 meters in 61 and felt great. I’ll be doing some blood work tests and an allergy test within the next few weeks to learn more. In the mean time here’s an example of a different runner from Massachusetts experiencing “the Barnicle death” that has become a youtube classic.

 

Heading Home for First Race Back From Injury

I’m very excited to be flying home in a few days to compete in the historic Falmouth Road Race. I encourage all my friends in beautiful Cape Cod to skip the beach for a few hours to come watch the Falmouth Mile Saturday night and/or the Falmouth Road Race on Sunday morning starting at 10 Am. The late morning start often makes the race a test of one’s ability to run in the summer heat. One of my favorite running stories is Alberto Salazar suffering heat exhaustion in the 1978  Falmouth Road Race. Salazar fell back from the lead to 10th place at the finish and fainted with a temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit. A priest read him his last rites thinking the roads would be his death bed but he was fortunately resurrected after being placed in an ice tub and would go on to become one of the greatest American marathoners and coaches of all time. I hope to absorb some of that toughness when I step to the line in Woods Hole this weekend but also hope the weather gods make the temperature comfortable.

My training has continued to go great and I’ve been lucky to not have even the slightest minor aches and pains despite doing some of the hardest training to date. Here is last week’s work:

8/1 AM: 10 miles in 66 mins. Finished with some new plyos taught by Coach Simmons (skips, leg lifts, and  ankle strength exercises).

PM: 6 Miles at moderate pace. Finished with strides.

8/2 AM: 25 x 400 in 66 avg. Fastest 62 and slowest 68. 50-60 seconds rest. Finished with hurdle drills. 10.5 total with warm up and cool down.

PM: 5.5 easy. Finished with 30 mins of pool running to work on arm swing.

8/3 AM: 9 Miles at Woodmen trailhead easy.

PM: 6 Miles on treadmill average 6 minute pace after easy lifting.

8/4 AM: 9 Miles moderate pace finishing with 12 x 80 meter hills and then new plyos.

PM: 7 miles on treadmill at 6 minute pace.

8/5 AM: 6 mile tempo @ 5;08 pace in Falcon (6900 ft altitude). Was a bit discouraged with this compared to last week’s tempo but last week’s tempo was on other side of Colorado Springs at 5800 ft. Also, this would have been considered a good workout last year on the tempo trail in Albuquerque which is flatter and 2000 feet lower. Guess it’s a good sign when your bad workouts are a big improvement from the previous year.

PM: 4 miles extremely easy.

8/6 AM: 10 Miles on beautiful Gold Camp Road with Tommy and Austin. This run twirls alongside the mountains surrounding Pike’s Peak and has some breathtaking views. Some of the dirt road goes through and over tunnels. We made it to above 8000 feet before it was time to turn around but you can climb a lot higher if you’re brave enough.

PM: 4 miles easy.

8/7 AM: 18 Miles in 1:46. Solid progression run where I kept myself under control throughout because of the race approaching a week later.

Great week of training altogether. Can’t wait to be back home in the great state of Massachusetts and race again!