M&M

It's always neat as a coach to see athletes move on to compete at the next level. Though it doesn't happen a lot, it's really cool when it does happen! Then, when those who do move on, actually stick it out and succeed, well, truly awesome!

Two of our recent grads have been competing for Cal State San Marcos (north of San Diego) under the guidance of 1984 and 1988 Olmpian and former US record holder in the mile, Coach Steve Scott. Monica Valenzuela (class of '07) and Morgan Sjogren ('05) are the M&M I'm referring to!

Word has come that the two have now qualified to compete in the NAIA National Championships this next week in St. Louis, Missouri! Monika is a part of the San Marcos 4x400 squad, and Morgan has qualified in both the 5K and the 10K ... with, according to the last reports, a 10K PR that enters her as one of the favorites to win the whole thing!

What makes this story even sweeter, is that I can distinctly remember each of their years at King. Both girls found levels of success as varsity athletes in cross country and track. But both would also say their years here were frustrating ... filled with injuries and illnesses, enough setbacks to temper the enthusiasm they gained from their progress. They had the setbacks that come with sports.

But they are both testimonies of perseverence ... the ability to "keep on keepin' on." Now in their college years, they are enjoying the fruit of hard work ... and time ... and consistency ... and effort ... and not giving up.

How sweet is that reward! Great job Monika and Morgan! Thanks for not giving up on your gift and finding a way to succeed. We'll be looking forward to seeing the results from Nationals!

It's all about the Buffalo teamwork!

You have got to watch this video. It's about 8 minutes, but it's incredible!! Team work wins baby!!!! Wait till about six minutes in and you'll be amazed!

Summary: Lions catch baby buffalo for lunch. Crocodile tries to steal lunch. Team of buffalo comes back ... "not on our field you nasty lions!" Watch what happens to "lunch" and the Lions!

Next time you feel like you're "lunch" for some mean team, call out the teammates!

Qualified

I was thinking the other day about my days in elementary school. Though recess was always a beloved time, it held it's share of dangers and demons too. Like when we would line up to "pick teams" for dodgeball or baseball or whatever. I dreaded those times.

Let's just say I wasn't a Michael Jordan or Derek Jeter. I had all the desire of the best of them, but when it came to raw talent, well, I must have been in another line when God handed out the eye-hand-coordination thingy.

Anyway, it was always a good day when I didn't get picked last. Somehow, to be chosen by the "studs" somewhere in the middle of the line of desperate little kids was a victory. In my 9 year old mind, I had qualified for something special. Without ever being told by my playground idols, I had made it! I was going to Hollywood, baby!!!!

Qualified. Made the cut. These are things that make up every athletic endeavor, whether it be third-grade dodgeball or the PGA tour on Friday afternoon, or track and field on Thursday night. Athletes lace on the shoes to find out if they qualify.

We had 7 distance kids qualify for CIF ... one boy named Charlie and six girls. (I'm calling the group this week "Charlie's Angels.") Yea, they groaned, but I'm stickin' with it. I think it's funny! (Maybe it's because I'm the only one that can remember the seventies).

Anyhoo, it's neat to see this group who worked hard all season find satisfaction in qualifying for a track meet that limits who's invited. They had to work hard, but they also had to perform to a certain level on a given day. Not easy! But they did it, and on they go to the races. For a few, there are harbored goals of turning this Saturday's races into another qualifying effort, targeting the opportunity to be counted among the top 9 runners in their event in the entire 120-school division!

Of course, qualification rounds also means some are left behind. But you know, that's ok too. Being picked at the end of the line as often as I did back in the day, though un-fun (is that a word?) at the time, I see now that it added a sense of character to my life and even to this very day skews my view of things in a better direction. So it's not all bad.

Makes you want to work harder to make the cut next time around.

The Race is On!

Our unofficial motto of King Distance running is "The Race is On!" The meaning of it seems simple enough; when the gun goes off, you better not delay. Get going. Don't dilly-dally. Stall and you'll be left behind.

But have you given thought to how to race? Here are some tips from one of America's best 5K runners, Tim Broe:



1. Understand your body better. As you train, pay attention to how your body feels at different points of the practice. Memorize those feelings, so that when you get to that point in the race, you recognize it and know it. Fewer surprises mean better performances.

2. Visualize a race in workouts. The mind is a powerful thing. If I had a buck for every talented runner I've coached who couldn't race well because they harbored mental doubts about their ability to race, well, I'd have enough for dinner! While training, know why you're doing the workout you're doing. Understand how it simulates what will come in a race. Then, while practicing, let your mind imagine that it actually is the race. Mentally, you've raced several times a week before you physically have to go out and do it.

3. Get focused well before race time. Broe says: "Too many runners, especially high schoolers, take a 'whatever' attitude, fooling around and talking and only start to focus a minute or two before the race. That's too late."

4. Think about where you're going to be in the race. Knowing a bit about your competition (staying up on http://www.dyestatcal.com/ is a good way) allows you to find the proper place you belong in the field. Most of won't lead or win, so prepare by understanding where you should be.

5. Don't predetermine your finish place. This is a killer! If you think you'll get beat, you probably will. If you think you're going to win and then don't, you're fried! Go back to #4 and have a PLAN for the race, knowing that the ultimate goal of the race is to beat as many people as you can. After the gun, do the best you can!

Poly Dual

A fun image from the racing on Wednesday

She's Baaaaack!

I like come from behind victories. Or even come from behind runners up. Or even come from behind 10th places.

It doesn't really matter to me what place the person comes in, it's just so inspiring when people make come backs. Maybe it's because they are improbable, impossible, incredible.

Larissa Davis has been the Queen of comebacks at King. Whether it be injuries, grades or other issues, it seems like the story line of her four years of running at King High has been one of set back followed by come back.

Saturday at the IE's she showed she's back again. Slowed at the start of the season by a nasty fight with bronchitis, she lost the little conditioning she had and had to start over ... again. An injury in September took out her XC season. Though she doesn't run the hurdles, she could give a clinic on technique. Hurdles? She gets them.

There were no hurdles in her path on Saturday except the self made ones of doubt, fear and unsustainable pain. But those seemed small and insignificant as for eight laps the talented senior floated along the track. In fourth place, then third, then second, then to the lead and to the win. It wasn't her fastest time ever, but it was the fastest of the season for her and showed us all again the strength of character that makes up someone who refuses to give up and walk away.

May we all find the will to come back from whatever difficulty life throws our way. Need a "how to manual" when your time comes? Call Larissa. She's got a copy she can give you.

Some Shots of the Day

Here are some of my favorite images of the day.







"Ooh, look at Hannah's toe!!"

40 Years Ago...

April 4, 1968. Our school’s namesake, Martin Luther King Jr was killed.

Not sure why our culture pays greater attention to the even years in half-decade increments, for an anniversary is an anniversary. That said, today should be a day in which all Americans, and perhaps most notably, the folks who make up Martin Luther King High School should pay some attention to the man whose life was ended by an assassin’s bullet on this day.

The movement King led was just over 10 years old at that point, if you count backward to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Really though, it was a movement that had slowly grown for 100 years, a movement for equality and for freedom.

What made King the leader that he was, and the movement an unfinished success, was his understanding of the truths rooted in Jesus’ teaching to “love your enemies” and to “turn the other cheek” to those who have hurt you. The force of Love, as King put it, was a “moral force” that violent force could not defeat. In his sacrificial life he practiced what he preached, he walked his talk.

King described the outcome of such action as a “Beloved Community”. It was a concept that was based on an ancient Greek word for love, called "agape." Agape love, King explained was “overflowing love which is purely spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless and creative”… "the love of God operating in the human heart.” He said that “Agape does not begin by discriminating between worthy and unworthy people…It begins by loving others for their sakes” and “makes no distinction between a friend and enemy; it is directed toward both…Agape is love seeking to preserve and create community.” http://www.thekingcenter.org/prog/bc/

We have a wonderful school to work at, named after a worthy man. Dr. King was not a perfect man, neither are we a perfect school. However, if somehow the people who make up Martin Luther King High School can work collectively toward a more beloved community, we can see a better community and school.

A few days before he was killed, he gave an address in which he prophetically said, “I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord…”

Nice Mammoth Video

I like seeing stuff from Mammoth -- maybe it's because I've been there to run so many times that I feel like I know it. Maybe it's just because videos like this one bring to mind some great personal running memories.

Deena Kastor's an inspiration too... she was the elite woman in The Spirit of the Marathon a bunch of us watched back in January.

Enjoy!

"Most Remarkable" in Riverside

I went today to City Hall in d-town Riverside. The council members were honoring "25 of Riverside's Most Remarkable Teenagers". I snuck in and found a last remaining seat just as it started. Seated next to me was Dr. Rainey, the sup of RUSD. Since I had just come from 75 minutes at the dentist, my tongue felt like it was three-times it's size and basically my lower lip wasn't there.

"Good to thee you Doctah Wainey" I said. Fearful she might conclude I was some crazy freak off the street who was missing a few screws, I told her "I teach at King, (that was probably reassuring to her ... did I hire this man?) iths a pleathure to meeth you. I'm thorry, I justh got outh of the dentith chair." She laughed.

I actually wasn't there to see how I'd do in public without control over my speaking skills or salivating glands (I tried to remind myself to slurp every few minutes so as to not be caught with a stalagtite of spit hanging from my chin). I was there to take in one of our own, Patrick Gonzalez, who was being honored by the City Fathers (and a couple of Mothers) as one of Riv-city's remarkable teens.

City leaders can often screw up things, but this time they got it right. Pat was one of 25 teenagers who had incredible accomplishments before they've turned 20. As I listened to their accomplishments I couldn't help but marvel at what young people can do when they make up their minds they want to go "big!" Things like graduate from high school at 14 and compose orchestral music by 19. Like help the poor in Mexico not once, but consistently. Like raise $14,000 by selling home made trinkets to donate to animal shelters. Like decide to NOT join a Riverside gang and instead become an exemplary student.

Or, like come back from a brain tumor and brain surgery to lead your cross country team.

All ... very cool. All, and Patrick especially, very remarkable.

Bein' a Bulldog!

One of the things I like about you is that you remind me of this dog! You're bulldogs this season! Tough, stubborn, gnarly.

Sweet!

iClass

Random act of kindness ... and class.

On Saturday at APU, Danielle Fillmore and Casey Candelaria happened upon a stray ipod. It had iwalked its way from it iowner and was ilost.

The two girls saw an opportunity ... to make someone's day. With great integrity and class the two girls turned the ipod into announcer's booth, shocking the man with their honesty and integrity.

"High schoolers don't turn in lost ipods," he said incredulously. "That's a real class act."

Thanks Casey and Danielle for doing what you would hope someone else would do for you. Thank you for making the King uniform look great!

May your tribes increase!

A Story Well Told

A week ago our school enjoyed and experienced another great day of “King High Remembers”. Those of you sophs and freshmen have yet to take part in this special event, but to catch you up, it’s an event in which over 200 veterans of WW2, Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf wars come tell their stories to the juniors of King High. It’s very cool.

I’ve been thinking about the event lately, and I’ve come to realize that the stories these men tell aren’t just stories. These men are honored members of our society because of what they endured, what they sacrificed, what they saw, and of course, what they did. That’s why we honor them. Our veterans have more than stories to impart to the rest of us, they have the wisdom that comes from experience. We do well to listen to them.

Every year I tell my students in preparation for the day that it’s a minor miracle that some of these vets are even there. The memories are tough for many. But they come nonetheless and give of their experience.

We have veterans on our team too. None that have seen combat of course, but veterans that have done battles of a different kind and have the wisdom and stories to tell from those experiences. Your story is important. The things you’ve learned and grown from in past seasons of competition are important.

I want to challenge you veterans: Bekah, Carissa, Patrick, Tatiana, Stacy, Larissa, Ethan and Nick – what have you given back to the younger runners? Have you spent any time telling your stories? Imparting your wisdom? The things you’ve learned along the way?

I guarantee you that there are freshmen and sophomores on this team that are full of questions, minds full of wonder and confusion, eyes perhaps frozen in fear.

You have something to give back, just as those veterans of our past wars have given back to us.

Go for it. Start today.

It's All in the Numbers

I remember back in the early 90's while coaching at Ayala, one of our workouts was a time trial. It was simple. Run a mile. See how fast you can go.

I was younger then and far more fit. I actually had done some track work on my own! Imagine that! Well, about a week before the time trial as I recall, I had run 8x400 with a minute rest and had nailed right about 75 seconds per lap.

At the TT, I was talking smack with the boys, just joking around, and one of them asked me how fast I was going to do the mile in. "5:00 flat" I said with assurance. "How can you be so sure?" asked the kid. My mind went back to the practice I had done a week earlier and answered, "I've already done it in practice."

Now I don't say all this to brag. I do say this to help all of you who doubt yourself. Those who see your glass as "half empty." There is more to training to race than a single workout of course, but when your training is going well, sometimes a single workout can really show you what you CAN do.

Last week we did a solid track set of pace intervals. It's now posted on the distance page of the web site, and it tells you something. Look at the last column, the one with the averages in red. Runners: This is the pace you CAN run a mile in RIGHT NOW. As you head into the exciting Azusa meet on Saturday, you need to enter that stadium armed with assurance, not doubts. You might even go faster than that if you let yourself.

A quick story from the 90's to prove my point. Back in '95 we had a young, sophomore girl on our team who was quite talented. In practice she could do 10x400 in about 77 seconds. In fact she had done that workout. At Azusa Pacific that season, she was entered in the fastest heat of the 1600, and I assumed she'd run aroun 5:10 -- that's what her practice splits had proven. But something happened that afternoon. With cool breezes and great competition from the studs of Yucaipa High, she let a good day pull her along and the adrenaline took over. By the last lap she was flying, and rocketed home for the win ... in 4:54! We were all quite astounded and pumped at the same time. As of that evening it was the #3 time in the country!

We were confident she could run 5:10. Adrenaline and competitiveness proved she could go faster.

So what about you. Your practices show what is possible at minimum. Why not go big this weekend? Throw caution to the wind, be aggressive KNOWING what you can do, and hoping for what you may do. That's what racing's all about.

Go for it!

A Magical Ride

What a week! It's been a fun ride these past few days, a ride you all have taken me on. I was thinking all weekend about how great your performances were out at Hemet. There's really nothing magic about what we're doing to prepare, all the good distance programs do some variation of the kind of training we do. But this group seems at times, magical.

It showed on Thursday with inspired racing in a meet of little long-term significance. Kids were battling, do their best and notching PR's. It's the result of being in shape, of being talented, of having a "can do" spirit, and it seems we have a lot of that around camp.

I can remember in the not so distant past some pretty lean years in terms of those necessary ingrediants in making magic. I was thirsty as a coach, hungry too. There were many days I thought about giving it up. As I watch you guys push yourself, train well, race competitively, I'm so happy I didn't.

After such a great Thursday, Saturday had a bit of it's own magic as well. Five of you -- Charlie, Derek, Carissa, Kelsi and Rebecca Asplund -- put on their risk helmets and went for a ride with a bunch of college racers. Easy opportunity to freak out and curl up, but none of them did. Instead, they toed the line and went for it, to heck with their relative youth and experience. The guy with the gun shot it off and off they went for 12 1/2 laps of magical running. Magic in that they could have so easily bowed out and said "I'm not ready yet"; magic in that they held their own on a BIG stage; magic in that they eagerly took the risk and came through with shining colors.

Thanks kids for doing what you are doing. It's quite a ride so far. Let's keep it going!

HP: Invent

The computer maker, Hewlet Packard is known by their initials, "HP". Their current slogan for their company is "HP: Invent." It's catchy, I guess, aims to get us consumers thinking about their inventiveness, their corner on the market is supposedly more inventive than their competitors. It works.

I've been calling one of our runners by HP. It's her initials and since some have begun to refer to me simply as "CP", I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and so I take all the syllables of Hanna Peterson and reduce them down to "HP." She doesn't seem to mind, so it works.

It struck me the other day as I was finishing a run with her that her running has begun to match Hewlet Packard's slogan. HP, I mean Hanna Peterson, is in the process of inventing herself athletically!

Last Fall in cross, she was like many freshmen are: A bit timid, quiet, and definitely JV. But something happened to her over the winter. She joined the Lobos club, worked diligently, and in the process of time and consistent sweat, she's reinvented herself athletically. She's not who she was last Fall! That don't-rock-the-boat rookie 9th grader has become a take-no-prisoners runner! What a great invention!

The signs are obvious that this is a newer version of Hanna. Let's call her Hannah 2.0. Last week in her first ever track race (the 800), she put down a very respectable 2:36, fourth fastest for King on the day. Two days later, she pulled a 19:29 3 mile threshold effort. Yesterday, she closed out the 8.5 miler with a 7:29 last mile.

Where's this all come from? Where is this new inventiveness found? I'm not totally sure what clicked in her mind, but the outcome is exciting and growing. It's the same outcome a lot of you are finding to be true. If you work hard, stick with it, good things will come.

The new Hanna is the new many and it can be the new you if you aren't yet inventing yourself. Like all great inventions, the latest and greatest usually beckons copy-cats. Feel free to copy. There's no patent on her invention.

I love this sport! You get out of it what you put into it ... but that's something any inventor already knows.

Looking Ahead, Planning for the Future

It's been interesting to note these past few days as the school counselors have been leading you athletes through the registration process for next school year, that many of you are beginning to look ahead, and I mean waaay ahead.

A number of you sophomores are thinking about what classes to take your junior year that will affect your college choices, college admission, and even the opportunity to compete in college. Good for you!!

School can be work and lets face it, it can be boring at times. But like any challenge in life, it becomes much more doable if there is a purpose behind it, a goal to achieve through it. I encourage you to not let school be "something you have to do" but "something to achieve." Dare yourself to dream about what could be rather than dwell on what is.

I was talking with Rebecca Asplund the other day about her class choices, and it dawned on me that she (like the rest of you sophs) is basically already a junior! Where does the time go?

It goes fast, that's where. So don't waste your time at King. Take challenging courses, classes that will prepare you to enter college and succeed. Don't get caught thinking high school's gonna take forever. It'll be gone before you know it and the choice you are making today, such as the choices of taking honors or AP courses, will positively affect you when you go to fill out those college applications or when your race performances catch the eye of some college coach.

Looking for FAT athletes!

I was talking with Kelsi and Kasey Tippets' dad yesterday, as we waited for the two girls to get back from their workout. He commented about how well the team seemed to be doing, excitement for the upcoming competitive season colored his words. I couldn't help but agree!

As we talked, I realized again something that I've been thinking a lot about regarding you all over the last few months. We will have a great season because you are great kids.

By "great" I mean talented, yes, but even more important than that. What makes this team of guys and girls great is your character! You have integrity, you are willing to work, you listen to your coaches, you try to do what we suggest in order to improve. It is these things that make you great, and collectively they make us a great team of distance runners.

I was given an acronym a few days back that describes the great athlete: FAT. I know what you're thinking, fat athletes are pretty much NFL linemen and sumo wrestlers. SKINNY would define us. But no! FAT is the perfect term to describe great runners!

Flexible

Available

Teachable

I have come to realize that great runners are "FAT" runners. These kinds of athletes have realized that the only way to improve is to adapt to better workouts, faster paces, longer miles. They are available -- they show up to practice without excuse, they are teammates in every sense of the word. They are hungry for the knowledge they need to improve. They don't walk around thinking they know it all, they seek the advice of coaches and other runners to find ways to get better.

So, so many of you are FAT. Thank you! It was fun bragging to Mr. Tippets about not just his two daughters, but all of you.

"But this is so hard!!!"

Coach Corona informed me the other day of a pretty decent athlete in another track event that just up and quit, three days into the season. When he asked why, the student responded, “this is just so hard!”

Well, it is! Duh. But I would say in response, “so what if it is?” Does everything in life have to be easy? Is our time on the planet best spent in pursuit of things that are easy, activities that don’t require work? Is that all there is?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we ought be weirdoes deliberately looking for pain and suffering. That’s not the point. What I am saying though is a truth I’ve learned in my life. Here it is: So often, the most challenging pursuits in life, the efforts that really take a truck load of concentration, discipline, and flat out work, bring the greatest rewards. Those who can withstand it, are those who reap a payday that is simply indescribable.

I feel sorry for that kid. There was talent there, enough talent that given time and effort, that athlete could have walked off the track just glowing in the light of accomplishment. But the pursuit of what’s easy, what’s comfortable, derailed that potential and complacency took over. Too bad.

It’s interesting … the very day that Coach Corona gave me the word, I was watching you all busting your butts on the track, working hard, suffering, straining, trying wring from your bodies every ounce of improvement you could. Good for you! I’m continually impressed by every teenager, decent athlete or not, who has figured out that the path to success is not a smooth one, easily tread, but it’s a mountain to climb, it takes daily effort and a continual view of the incredible rewards that will come to those who keep on keeping on.