Thursday Before Finals ... Flexibility

Sometimes you just gotta flex. Bend. Move. Adapt.

Game plans and strategies are good, but successful athletes always have a Plan B in place and go into any competition willing to flex. Rigidity is the death of accomplishment. Life throws you a curve, and you're not ready for it, you'll be swinging and missing or frozen in your tracks.

With an incoming storm, "the best-laid plans of mice and men" as it was once written are threatened to be washed out. We planned to run the traditional course. Our minds were wrapped around hills and dirt. But the clouds of heaven might make us move to flat and concrete.

Are you ready to be flexible? Are you ready to turn your mind off from "Plan A" and fully embrace "Plan B" as if that backup had been your primary all along?

Successful athletes will find a way to do that.

What to Eat Before a Hard Run or Race

A few of you new runners have already experienced the stomach upset that comes when running, especially on Saturday mornings. Here's an article from Kristy Richardson, a registered nutritionist (she also gave a presentation to our team last year) on what runners should eat before a run:

Pre-Workout Nutrition
August 20, 2010,
Do you avoid food prior to your workouts because of abdominal discomfort or digestive issues? To avoid these problems, make sure your pre-training nutrition is low in fat and fiber and focuses on high carbohydrate foods.

Ready-to-eat cereal, low fat milk and a banana
Yogurt and fruit
Egg whites, toast and berries
English muffin, peanut butter and a banana
Bagel, light cream cheese and a piece of fruit

If you are not used to eating before a workout, start with something small that is high in carbohydrates and well tolerated.
Half of a banana
1 cup of low fat yogurt
½ cup of cooked cereal (e.g. cream of wheat or oatmeal)
1 cup of ready-to-eat cereal

As you develop a tolerance for pre-workout nutrition, you should be able to gradually increase the amount.

If you’re still having digestive trouble, try a liquid meal.
Gatorade Nutrition Shake
Ensure
Boost
Slim-Fast
Carnation Instant Breakfast

It might take a few tries before you find the pre-workout nutrition that’s right for you. Find comfort in the fact that the effort you put in will pay off in the long run. Proper nutrition before your workout will help you optimize glycogen stores, improve energy levels, avoid hunger, and may even assist in muscle building.

This information was brought to you by OC Nutrition, Your Trusted Source for Health & Nutrition Advice. OC Nutrition offers nutrition counseling services over the phone or in person in Newport Beach, Irvine, Orange, Anaheim Hills, Chino, Glendora and Long Beach. If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment, please contact:
Kristy L. Richardson, MS, MPH, RD, CSSD, CHESRegistered Dietitian & Exercise Physiologist
(949) 933-6788kristy@ocnutrition.comwww.ocnutrition.com

Distractions

A crazy thing happened yesterday in Fairmont Park. No, not what you're thinking. I was running in the Mission Inn Half Marathon, at just past a mile, when all of a sudden a phone rings. I can honestly say that as it was ringing, my mind was all, "no, that's not a phone ringing. We're in the middle of a race. Phones don't go off in races."

I was in a pack of maybe 8 guys, cruising along at about 6:30 per mile, and one of them makes a surge to the front of the group -- like he wants some privacy or something -- pulls out his cell phone from I-don't-know-where and says, "Hello?"

Hello? What, are you kidding me?

Either I'm getting a lot slower, or this is just plain redonkulous. The guy proceeds to have a conversation with whomever, finally yelling into the phone, "I can't talk right now, I'm in the middle of a half marathon!" Well, duh, what are you carrying your phone for in the first place?

No joke here, but on my way back after the turn-around, I saw a woman carrying on a conversation on her cell phone. Goodness. What's the world coming to.

All this reminded me of how easy it is to get distracted from the moment. Most folks who run half marathons have spent a fair amount of time preparing for race day. 13.1 miles is not exactly a distance most runners can just role out of bed and go do. Because of that, I'd assume, one would want to put the entirety of their focus and concentration on the task at hand. Eliminating distractions, like, say a cell phone in your shorts(!) would be a given, wouldn't it? Again, I'm just assuming here...

What are you focused on? Anything? What have you spent a lot of time preparing for? What are you willing to give up to achieve your goal? Or are you too distracted by the tyranny of options, the din of being busy that you can't zero in on what is really important?

One of the consequences of a culture that thinks "you can have it all" is that we fail to see that "having it all" can be a major distraction from "having what's good." As you pursue a major goal -- such as a berth at CIF Finals this weekend -- I challenge you to think about what (or who) may be your greatest distraction from achieving that goal and kindly put it "on hold" for the time being. Trust me, it will be waiting for you after success has been accomplished.

Being able to talk on one's cell phone while in the middle of a competitive half marathon may be a modern marvel, but it certainly isn't a way to finish the race with any semblance of athletic dignity.

Hey buddy, the clue phone is ringing, and it's for you!

Toughness ... I'm just going to go for it.

Before I came to King, I was the head coach at Ayala High School in Chino Hills and had the pleasure of coaching a bunch of really good kids and great runners. One of those was Greg Harris who I saw thru his junior year before I jumped ship to come to Riverside.

I liked Greg right away. He was a quiet, unassuming guy, but willing to do whatever it took to succeed, and in fact he did! He wasn't oozing talent like a few do; he had a PR at MT.SAC in the mid-16:00's as I recall and ran 16:26 at Woodward Park in Fresno. But he made the most with what he had, and you could count on Greg to take it hard all the way to the line and not leave anything behind.

He was fun to watch ... even more fun to coach.

Greg's now 26 and living in Utah, married and a father. He's doing well. He ran in college and has recently taken up marathoning, and on Monday of this week, he ran the 113th Boston Marathon. I looked up his result, 2:46:29 (6:21 per mile for 26.2 miles! ... and Boston is NOT flat) and was impressed so emailed him with my congratulations.

He replied with a note and a copy of a blog he had written about his race experience. It is a powerful piece ... a great description of a tough guy fighting through a tough day and, typically, giving it everything he had.

I encourage you to read it. I've highlighted some parts that jumped off the screen at me and hopefully will inspire and motivate you as well. Look for, especially, how determined he was to not let a "poor pace" linger. I wish you all could have met Greg, but maybe through these words of his, you'll get a glimpse of why he made Ayala Cross Country a much better team. And yes, I got his approval to post this.


If I seem a little disappointed with the results, the race was still a great experience. First let me say how awesome Boston is. They support their sports teams and this race in an unbelievable way.

Part 1:
miles 0-10. I went out at a 6:05. I don't have all of my splits because my Garmin lost reception. There was a big pack of 25 or so that formed. We hit miles 2 and 3 in about 5:50 each. I knew that this was a little fast for my fitness. So I looked back to see if there was another pack to drop back to. Nope, just small groups. I realized that with the wind picking up that 5:50 miles in this pack was going to be as easy and 6:00 miles on my own. So i hung in there. It was not too hard, but i knew that it would take its toll. Then i thought, this is Boston, I may never do this again. I am just going to go for it. So the pack kept rolling along. We hit mile 10 in 59 minutes and change.

Part 2:
Miles 10-18 At mile 10, the club runners that were leading the pack decided to bump it up to 5:40 pace. I knew that I would be dead by 15 if i went with them. So I held pace. However, the rest of the pack quickly dispersed. I tried to form little groups, but it did not work well. I was still feeling good though.

We went through Wellesley. That was cool. No kisses, just high 5's for me. One girl tried to jump out and grab me. I saw some girls that I would guess did not get any kisses despite their best efforts. I hit the half in just under 1:18. I knew that a reasonable positive split would give me 2:39-2:41. So I just kept rolling along. The hills started at 17. The first one was not too bad. However, the cold wind was really whipping around by now. I had ditched my long sleeve shirt, gloves, and beanie by mile 5.

Part 3:
Miles 18-26.4 Now the hills started to take their toll. By Heartbreak Hill, the wind was bad. I was running by myself. I could not latch on to the continuous small groups that was pass every minute or so. I dropped to about 7:00 pace. I knew that running 7:00 at mile 20 is not a good sign. That would mean 8:00 pace by the end. So I decided that would not happen today. It is probably the toughest that I have been tested mentally and physically. The hills ended, and at least I had some downhill to keep me moving. I also had my name written on my jersey, so the crowd kept me going. I started to get light-headed and dry-heaved from time to time. As i got closer to the finish line, I was counting down the minutes of pain left. We finally made the turn onto Bolyston Street. A couple of more groups passed me. The crowds were great. However, by that point, and for the last few miles, I had been getting light-headed and had blurry vision. I had been getting a lot of GU, water, and Gatorade, so I'm not sure why this happened. So i started to swerve and stagger as I came down the home stretch.

With less than 100m left, the announcer said, "Here comes Greg Harris in a tight race down the stretch!" I looked to my left. There was a guy that I shall name Mr. Lurpy. I did not have a lot of will power left, but I knew one thing. Mr Lurpy would not beat me today. After I looked over, Mr. Lurpy started kicking with his long lanky legs. I responded and barely got him at the line. Then I fell to my knees and stayed there for a minute. My final 10K was 43-44 min. Better than it could have gotten i guess.

Part 4:
Post-race "fun." After i got up, my world was spinning. I staggered around as many volunteers asked if i was OK. I said sure i have been "here" before. Cramped legs, cold clammy skin, and nausea. Sure, no problem. I was getting really cold by this time. The coldness started at about mile 15 and just got worse and worse. As i walked now, i heard spectators talking about how cold the wind was. I knew that my dad would not be done for 45 min. so I looked for a place to get warm. I saw the big med tent. I staggered in there and asked if i could sit down. They were concerned because i was pale and wobbly. So I sat down and closed my eyes. They kept trying to force broth down me. They took my temp and i was 92 degrees. They wanted to call my wife, lay me down, and maybe give my an IV. I declined and said I would be fine. They did not believe me and said that no one with a 92 degree temp. was fine. So I just sat there wrapped in 2 blankets for 45 min. At that time, I announced that I was leaving. They said no, your temp. is still only 94. I said, yes I am leaving. I have to meet my dad. I will never find him if i dont leave now. So the doctor agreed to sign it as she shook her head. I found my dad about 5 min. later, so I was glad that I had insisted on leaving. After another hour of riding on the subway and sitting in the hot tub (oh yeah! No ice bath for me!) I was good to go.

Now that I have had a day to reflect on the race, I am not as disappointed. I have learned that bad weather is just lame and it is what it is. My last 3 marathons have had lame weather. The thing that bugged me is that 2:39 would have gotten me 160th place. Add 7 minutes for my 2:46 and I got 322nd place. That sucks. But I am confident that I did the best I could have. I have no regrets. This is one of my only half or full marathons where I can honestly say that I could not have gone harder at any point in the race. That is satisfying to know. Now it is time to rest up and make one last BIG push at St. George.

Faith in the System

"I have a few sayings I have shared with her over the years, such as “the key to success is not working harder but working smarter.” She's really picking up on that one. I have asked her to have faith in the work we do to prepare for races, to have the patience to carry out the plan we come up with, and not to panic if things aren't going our way – we're smart enough to figure out something that will work."

The above quote comes from the coach of Jordan Hasay. You know, Jordan ... the really fast one with long blond hair. (On a trivial note, King ran in Jordan's HS debut, the Morro Bay Invitational, 2005. She won the girls' race by 800 meters and would have been 14th in the boys varsity race!).

It's great advice from a guy who has successfully guided the nation's top runner for the last four years. Did you read it? Did you get it? Read it again. The key to success is not working harder, but working smarter. Don't misunderstand him, he's not saying "hard work is the key to failure." It's a statement built on the assumption that hard work is already taking place. When it is, success won't come just because you work even harder. Instead, an intelligent approach to training the right way will bring the rewards.

After 20 years of coaching however, I'm convinced the second part of his quote is the more significant one. "I have asked her to have faith in the work we do to prepare for races, to have the patience to carry out the plan we come up with, and not to panic if things aren't going our way – we're smart enough to figure out something that will work."

My, so true.

A while back I had a conversation with one of our runners about my training philosophy. There had been a little disagreement over the path we were taking, and I said, "You know, our philosophy is a good one. It's produced good results in the past and will again in the future. No, it's not perfect, but no training plan is perfect. BUT, even if it was the "perfect system" it still wouldn't work if the athletes didn't have faith that it would.

We left it at that, but I hear those words echoed now in Jordan Hassay's coach.

Did you catch the key word in that quote? It is: "We". The success of Jordan -- or any athlete -- doesn't come alone, it comes from a relationship between -- at minimum -- the coach and the athlete in communication. Talking about goals, about strategy, about training, about life. Great athletes don't get there alone. It's always a team effort. No coach can read minds, and if the athletes don't communicate with their coach on matters of importance toward the desired results, a coach assumes there are no desired results. Silence is doubt. At best, it's apathy.

Some of us here at King have marveled at what Jordan Hassay has accomplished in her four years. What's her secret?

Is it talent? Partly.
Is it hard work? Certainly.
Is it great coaching? Perhaps.
Is it that she believes in what she's doing? According to her coach, yes.

As I think back over the last two decades and the athletes who have achieved success to the level of their high school potential, without exception, those athletes were ones who listened to and embraced our philosophy, applied their talent, worked hard and went for it. To this day I remember sitting in the bleachers at Walnut High School as a young man named Eric Loudon, grinning from ear to ear after running a PR in the 1600 at League Finals, yelled up to me, "It works, coach! it works!"

Well, our training worked because it was based on sound practice and physiological principles, but more so because Eric had the faith to believe it would.

It's working for Jordan too, and it can work for you.

Pacing is Everything!

Pacing is everything! We've preached this for 10 seasons now, but every now and then we get an example of exactly how it's done.

Below are the splits from Galen Rupp's recent INDOOR 5K national record. The laps are short, usually about 200 meters. But look closely at the numbers in parentheses(33.11, etc.) Thos are his lap splits on the way to a national record.

Notice they don't start fast, slow down, then speed up. They are all within 1.5 seconds of his first lap, until he starts kicking with 600 meters to go.

Impressive!

What's it mean to you? We'll be starting track training -- meaning on the track -- in a couple of weeks. Will you train to race like Rupp? You think he managed that consistency on race day by being all over the place in practice? Make a goal, make a goal.
2 RUPP
Galen Oregon Lane: 11 13:18.12
33.11 (33.11) ,1:06.17 (33.07) ,1:38.51 (32.34) ,2:11.46 (32.96)
,2:43.93 (32.47) ,3:16.30 (32.37) ,3:47.92 (31.62) ,4:19.77 (31.85)
,4:52.54 (32.78) ,5:23.80 (31.26) ,5:54.64 (30.85) ,6:26.95 (32.32)
,6:59.57 (32.62) ,7:31.63 (32.07) ,8:02.99 (31.36) ,8:35.32 (32.33)
,9:08.48 (33.16) ,9:40.78 (32.30) ,10:13.48 (32.71) ,10:46.12 (32.64)
,11:18.34 (32.22) ,11:49.92 (31.59) ,12:21.13 (31.21) ,12:50.85 (29.73)
,13:18.12 (27.27)

An Olympic Evening

Ruth Wysocki, the 1984 1500 meter and 800 meter Olympian paid us a visit the other night and serenaded us with stories of her running career. What a privilege it was! Ruth started running, kind of "by accident" and quickly discovered she liked winning the ribbons and medals that came with top placing at age-group meets. From there she ran on the boys team at her high school (girls didn't run much in those days and had few opportunities to race) and ultimately ended up running for Vince O'Boyle at UC Irvine. O'Boyle has been the coach of King alums Megan Fairley and Brian Brierly as well.

Her stories culminated with her upset victory in the 1500 meter Olympic Trials in '84. She beat the presumed favorite, Mary Decker, who held 17 national records and hadn't been beaten in 5 years! She was the reigning World Champion at the distance. None of that fazed Wysocki however, and with 300 to go, she punched it and raced Decker side-by-side for the last lap, edging into the lead with only 10 meters to go. It was an upset of upsets and catapulted her into the Olympic Games in Los Angeles where she would finish in the top 8 of both the 800 and 1500 meter races.

Funny, engaging and informative, the night was one to remember!

The Race is On, Part 6

"The Granddaddy of Them All". That's what they call the Mt.SAC invitational to be held the third Saturday in October. It really is just that! It's so large that it's held over two weekends, and the high school portion takes two days, Friday and Saturday.

We'll be racing on Saturday and the event is a true spectacle. If you think that cross country is a back-alley sport for skinny kids and few care about, Mt.SAC will blow your mind and preconceived notions! This sucker is huge.

The races go off every 7 minutes from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM. There are three races on the course simultaneously pretty much all day! The field is crowded with tents. Teams come from across the state and nation to race across the storied hills.

The course is 2.9 miles long, but very challenging with three significant hills in the last two miles. It is also the site for the CIF preliminaries and finals, held in November.

You can't miss the Mt.SAC invitational. This historic meet is the larges meet in the country and a feature of the cross country season in Southern California.

Click here for King's records on the course.

Click here for a photo album of last year's meet.

The Race is On, Part 5

I can hardly wait until October 10 and 11! The Clovis Invitational in Fresno is one of my all-time favorite meets! It's a great setting, well run, highly competitive, and best of all, it's held on the State Meet course!

We've been traveling to Clovis for a number of years now and have put together some really fine performances there. It's something about that setting that really gets our motor running and brings the best out. Click here for our all-time list.

If you check out that list, you'll notice that there are NO current boys in the top 25! (We didn't run the meet last season). With one of our better squads shaping up, it's going to be cool to see how many of that list get bumped down or off. The girls are peppering the list, but some of our young stud-muffins have yet to give the course a go, so you never know what the list on the girls side might look like when we're done.

We take the top 14 boys and the top 14 girls to the meet based on 1) Attitude and 2) race performances during September. We're planning on running the top-7 in the loaded "championship" race and the next seven (JV) in the "varsity race."

We'll drive up with parent help and stay in a local motel. Get in shape to race! You're not going to want to miss this!

OH MY! Watch This Finish

Boston Marathon, 2008. Last 3 minutes of the women's race! Check out the battle!

The Race is On, Part 4

A race I'm really excited about this season will be a new one for us, the "Central Park Invite" hosted by Fountain Valley HS. The meet will be held in Huntington Beach on October 4, so we should get some cooler temps that close to the beach.


But more importantly, the OC always brings high-quality competition, and so this will be another meet to test ourselves against some of the area's best. Check out last year's results, course map and other stuff at this link.

The Race is On, Part 3

Big 8! That's the name of the new league we'll be in. It's a creative name. Reflects the fact that the league will be made of 8 large (big) high schools. Oooooh.

Actually it's a blend of the Mountain View League and half of the Ivy League. King, Poly and North will be joining with the Corona schools -- Corona, Santiago, Norco, E.Roosevelt, Centennial.


Other than the names of the schools in the league, there will be some significant changes. First, dual meets will be no longer. Instead, the league will compete in "cluster meets", meaning, all 8 schools will compete three times in the season, including league finals. Each meet will be like an 8-team "invitational". The first meet, September 25, will be at our course.

The other main change will be the level of competition. This will certainly be a tougher league than the Ivy was, especially for the girls. Our girls have been unchallenged since we arrived in the Ivy League. Let's face it, there have been meets in league where we could run JV runners at the varsity level and still win easily. Those days are over.

Corona's girls are a power. They are well coached by Mark Gardner and have a similar history to ours: League dominence and CIF Finals berths. Santiago also had a decent girls squad last year, as did Poly.

The boys will have a deeper pool to wade through. In the past several years, it's been La Sierra and King at the top of the league heap. Corona's boys are as good as La Sierra, if not better, and in fact will most likely be one of the best teams in all of D1. Roosevelt is an up-and-comer and Santiago has always produced good teams, so it will certainly be a battle.

I like the challenges that confront us. Frankly, for our girls, league has been too easy and this will help make us better. Great challenges create great opportunities and that's the most obvious thing about heading into the Big 8.

Let's rise to it!

High Expectations

A couple of posts ago I wrote about Galen Rupp, the tough and fast kid from Oregon and his take on the pressure of high-level competition.

Well, in case you missed it, he finished second in the 10K at the Olympic Trials and qualified for the Olympics. He said, "high expectations mean you have a chance to do something special."

He's done it. He's met the expectations and at 21, he's on to the Olympic Games! Incredible story.

Sports Illustrated wrote about it. Check it out here.

The Race is On, Part 2

The sweet eucalyptus casting various and shifting shadows in the image above is the sight at the top of "the hill" at Morley Field, Balboa Park, San Diego. It's the location of the Mt. Carmel Invitational, one of my personal faves for many years, dating back to my time coaching at Ayala in Chino Hills (last century!). Seems like every time I come back to these fields and trees and the killer San Diego weather, cross country comes over me ... it's a great place to hold a race and the Mt.Carmel invitational never disappoints.

It'll be our second race of the season (9/20), a grade-level event, but the competition is always very challenging and quality, including an Arizona team thrown in for fun.

Our records on this course go back to 2000, when, and this is trivia, we made our first overnight trip in school history to the meet. We don't spend the night there anymore, but the 90 miles south of school are worth every minute it takes to get there. Click here for results and photos of last season's invitational.

Plan on having fun on this saturday and racing a real cross country course against real cross country schools!

The Race is On, Part 1

Over the next week or two, I'll be blogging about our upcoming season's race schedule. It seems sometimes that we can fall into the habit of "just showing up" and racing, especially in the early season (September) and perhaps lose an opportunity to race and compete at a higher level. So maybe a preview of what's ahead of us will inspire us to greater heights!

Seaside Invitational, September 12. The past couple of seasons we've kept it local at a small grade-level, small-school meet that hasn't produced tremendous competition. The Seaside Invitational (on a Friday, near the beach in Ventura) will be a BANG for our first meet of the year. The flat course and cool beach temperatures brings out many of the top Ventura teams (like Oak Park, Buena and Ventura) along with some of the powers of the state. This season, the #2 girl team in the nation last season, Saugus, will open their season at Seaside and State Finalists and OC power, Trabuco Hills will also be there.

We don't know much about the course yet, but it's at a park near the beach, and maybe this aerial map gives you an idea: Can you spell F.L.A.T.?


View Larger Map

So get excited about the possibilities that await us at the start of the season. We'll be coming out of the gates against some powerhouse programs that yearly train and produce outstanding runners. Though our success at this meet won't make or break the season, we are excited to go up against the best and see where we stand on Day One.

And yes, the meet is held on a Friday, which will allow us to get out of school in the morning hours for the bus ride. We'll return late, stopping for a fine team dinner at some killer location (Coach Peirce is working on it!) and thereby avoid traffic coming back to the IE.

Click here for last year's results and a couple of basic top finishers videos.

Pressure!

Galen Rupp, one of America's top 10,000 meter Olympic hopefuls, said this the other day about his upcoming Olympic Trials race, in which he must finish top three to qualify for Beijing. A great example of how top athletes recognize and respect "pressure" but don't let it get to them!

"A race I’ve been looking forward to for eight years is two weeks away. I will be running on my home track, having finished second in last year’s national championships, with the chance to make my first Olympic team. I am nervous, excited, and the pressure continues to mount. But with pressure and expectations comes the opportunity to do something great. I wouldn’t want it any other way."

It's Not "Just Running..."

One of the things that annoys me is when folks refer to our sport as "just running." You know the sentiment, kids and old dudes alike kind of cast off our sport into the playground as if any one can do it.

I love it when our runners begin to think their way through a season. It rocks when it's obvious that they are absorbing all that is being taught to them. I love it when they pick up the "why" ... as in why we are training the way we are, or why we pick the the races we do. It's easy to sometimes get lulled into "just running" and giving little thought to all the rest that goes into making us better athletes and competitors. Cross country is soooo much more than "just running."

This came to my mind when I came across this description of the elite runner's routine, written by Lauren Fleshmen, one of America's top 5,000 meter runners and Olympic hopeful. Read it. Notice just how many factors and people are involved in getting Lauren to the starting line ready to roll.

Though not all of what she does at the world-class level would apply to you, what does?

We're not "just running..."

2 Mile National Record Falls ... 29 years later

One of the longest held records in HS track and field fell finally, as Jeff Nelson's 8:36 for a full 2 miles (not the shorter 3200 meters race) was crushed by German Fernandez. Watch this historic race here! This guy is AMAZING! Be inspired.

The German Army

Did you see German Fernandez' State finals races? My goodness. Dyestat's official word was "there are no words." Mine would be "speechless." I don't think I've ever seen anyone on this side of world class run like he did. 4:00 for the 1600 meters, then, 2.5 hours later, 8:34 for 3200 meters. His first mile in the 3200 was 4:18, his second was in 4:15. Both were state records, the 32 was a National record. Both were run "alone" (there were, officially, other guys in both races, but was anyone -- including their own coaches -- watching?) The German army was storm trooping through Cerritos and it was a sight to behold. In events where few can break 4:10 and 9:00, he made very good runners look mediocre.

I had to remind myself he's a high school kid. Other than talent, not much different than you, the high school kid who may be reading this. When asked after his incredible day "what made the difference this season?" his answer was "I ran more last summer." Wow.

If you haven't seen his races yet, go over to these links to see the video. 1600 meters. 3200 meters

Morgan Sjogren's All American Experience

I got an email yesterday from Morgan Sjogren, (class of '05) whom I wrote about a couple of posts ago (see "M&M"). She wrote me describing her two races at the NAIA National Championships, and as any coach would want to know, she took the time to describe the races as they unfolded. Very cool!

What was really neat though about reading the account was to see so clearly how her experience and knowledge played a role in her performance. As you read it, notice how she had a strategy going in, how she practiced patience, how she relied on her preparation, how she overcame spills and racing "alone" and how, through it all, she came through with a couple of very good races. Learn from what she writes ... and yes, I got permission from her to post this !

Before the 10k my only instructions from Coach Scott were to run how I feel, so i just planned to go with my gut instinct. I had actually had a chronically tight calf that week and had to take a few days off prior to the meet, which i do not like at all! The first 2 laps were on my Pr pace(84/85) but then 3 girls took off (A D1 All-American and 2 Kenyans)! I decided to sit in the pack until I felt ready to go. The pace slowed enough that I used it to rest for my move. When we hit an even slower lap with 3.5 miles to go I decided to make a surge. No one went with me so I decided to keep pushing on my own. It was tough to run that much of the race by myself, but because I trained and raced alone so much this season I knew this would be my best plan-and it worked! Even though I was really stoked I had to focus on recovering for my next 2races as soon as I finished. This included and ice bath at midnight!

The next day during the 5k prelim I fell in a 3 girl pile-up. This bumped me back to last place way off the front pack. fortunately I have fallen enough in my career to stay calm and gradually move up. I ended up fourth and auto-qualifying for the final. Unfortunately I didn't have anough gas in my tank for the final. I got boxed in and missed the big break away. I ended up running the whole race by myself back in 12th, but eventually working my way up to 8th and scoring a point for the team! It was tough,but it really motivates me to do even better next year!