Back to the Future

Occasionally living in the past is a good thing. It is nice to remember what you’ve done and to be proud of past accomplishments. It is great to get together with folks who knew you “when”. Falling comfortably back into the old days, even for an all too brief weekend is a wonderful way to recharge the batteries.

I had the opportunity to literally and figuratively step back in time this weekend. My college roommate was inducted into our school’s athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday and my wife and I headed to Colonial Williamsburg to attend. The College of William and Mary at springtime is one of the more glorious places to be. The flowers bloom a little earlier, the air a bit warmer as a sleepy tourist town re-awakens. Shelly and I got there early, in time to run a few of the old routes that used to be my days and ways. I probably bored the heck out of her, recounting old stories of teammates and some of the silliness that occurs when you pack 35 fit and (generally) focused distance runners into a recreated colonial town. Sometimes you had to make your own fun given the surroundings.

As with many of the runs from campus, we started down the main colonial drag, D.O.G. Street. Per usual, the streets were crowded with school groups and tourists eager to soak in the atmosphere. Some of the more memorable moments of my college career occurred on this street, warming up and cooling down for races and workouts. [BEGIN FLASHBACK] There is always a brave child who wants to impress his or her schoolmates by yelling at the passing runners (runners are cowardly by nature, right? I mean, they are running away!). Each thought they were being original when yelling, “faster, faster” or “Run Forest Run”, not realizing that we had heard this hundreds of times. The one comment that ever stopped us in our tracks (figuratively, we kept running) was while cooling down from a long session of 1ks on the track. Several of us scholar-athletes were making the usual loop, shirts off, happy to be done with the workout. We could see the kid, probably 10 years old, get the wild eyes, inspiration brewing in his little skull. He popped off with, “How are you going to get girls with chests like that?” Academic All-Americans, Monroe scholars and valedictorians among the 15 of us and what could we respond with? Certainly it would be witty and slightly cutting sarcasm. Nope, the best we could manage was a hurtful “shut up”. It was a sad day for academia. [END FLASHBACK]

The weekend was a wonderful time to celebrate the career of my former teammate. He was a three time all-American at the 800m event and is currently a lawyer in NYC. Several of our old teammates showed up as well; we had a great time reminiscing and reconnecting with old friends. We even got to see the current team members hammer a workout on the track. It was as if everything came full circle. Here were the young, bright and talented athletes of the present lapping a track that also contains our blood, sweat and tears. The current team members were just as focused and driven as we had been at that time. They were polite enough to listen to our stories, just as we had done when alumni visited. My hope for them is that, in 15 years time, they also get to come back and experience the feelings and memories of a weekend in the past.

Weekend Schedule

Looks like it will be a fairly rainy weekend. Can you really stand to sit through another DVD movie that you’ve seen a hundred times? If you are a track fan, I’ve got all your weekend plans and you don’t even have to leave your computer!

No matter what level of track and field that you prefer, it will be on your interwebs this weekend. Enjoy watching the elite athletes? Head over to Universal Sports and their website as they broadcast from Doha and the World Indoor Track and Field Championships. Don’t want to root for your country? How about your alma mater? The NCAA Track and Field championships will be on ESPN360 and Flotrack throughout the weekend. Perhaps you’d like to cheer on some of the nation’s future stars? The dueling high school national championship meets also occur this weekend, one in NYC and the other in Boston. Check out Dyestat (if you are a high school track aficionado, you already knew this) for all the HS information.

Lots and lots going on! I’m excited to get some results and check out some great racing. If you’re more in the learning mood, check out the PRR Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/PRRunning1 for some info on Dynamic Flexibility and a simple strength circuit.

Enjoy!

Spring is in the Air!

This is my favorite time of year. Both the weather and the racing are starting to heat up! There are more and more races on the docket and results are starting to pour in. We can legitimately wear shorts and tees without looking like crazy people.

Beyond the temperatures, this is the time of year when we can get down to business, training-wise. This winter, clearly, was particularly brutal for the DC area. Many runners were forced inside or to slide around on slick roads. This limits our abilities to stretch our legs out and pick up the pace. Now that we have some sunshine and clear paths, let’s get the speedwork going! It is time to finish your run with some accelerations and start to feel the strength you’ve developed from long, slower base miles. Strides are a great way to get back into speedwork. Find a flat to slightly downhill 150m path. Slowly accelerate for the first 50m, hold for 50m, then, take your foot off the gas and coast for the last 50m. The idea is to get out of the rhythm of your distance run, to break from that slower pace work and get back to some free flowing speed. It is also a great opportunity to focus on proper mechanics. Fine tune your arm movements and the full body tilt. Most athletes become a bit more efficient at speed (unless you are Oakton and W&M alum Jacob Frey, who’s shift into “Frey Speed” has been deemed by several coaches to be a “biomechanical disaster”). Take advantage of this! Start with 4-6x 150m, then move to 6-8x150m.

This is also a good time to remind you that the shoes you wore for the Army 10miler or the MCM are ready to be replaced. Even if you put them in the closet after the race and didn’t use them again. You may want to consider a new outfit as motivation for a new season. Perhaps a water bottle belt for those of you entering into new, longer distance races. Sunglasses are a must at this point...As I said, we are starting to get out in shorts and tees. Lots of bright paleness going on out there. For you pale folks, get some good sunscreen.

It was fun to see folks out at the races this weekend. The first event of the Loudoun Race Series kicked off, and there was a lot of support for PRR employee Moise Joseph and the PRR Run for Haiti. Thank you to all that came out for one or both events, and for those that donated to the cause. Moise is off to Doha to run the 800m at the World Indoor T&F Championships this week. Be sure to check for his results soon!

Good luck with your spring racing season!