Alumni Warriors

Thanks to Nick Webster (center) for sending me this picture of three Marist Running Alums at the Warrior Dash at Windham Mountain.

From left: Greg Masto, Nick Webster, Zak Smetana.

I would like to personally thank three of my favorite Section 2 Bros for NOT WEARING their fancy Alumni Racing Team singlets for this sloppy event.

Nicely NOT done!

Hope to see them, and many other alums, next week for the Red Fox Trot 5K on campus.

Expiration dates and new beginnings

Beginnings and endings come at all times in the year. Today is one of those days. Look at the back of your cereal box. Or your Staples Rewards coupons. Or countless other consumer items that have expiration dates. Quite often, the "offer expires on August 31." I've always noticed that.

The end of August this year is also the beginning of Labor Day Weekend, the nominal end of summer. Oh sure, summer does not officially end till the first day of autumn, which is not for a few more weeks. But for all intents and purposes, this is the end of summer. A week from now, our kids will be back in school (woo-hoo! strike up the band!). On Saturday, our first cross country meet of the season -- our small meet at Bowdoin Park -- kicks off that quintessentially fall sport, which rapidly leads us into late fall/winter and the start of the long track journey as well.

So the impending demise of summer, and all these expiration dates, signal the end of one phase. But it is also the signal of new beginnings. Planet Fitness, the local fitness chain, offered its $99 a year plan earlier this week. Why? My guess is because the beginning of the new school year often is viewed as a new beginning for people, kind of a New Year's Resolution vibe several months before Jan. 1. We had our opening staff meeting in Athletics a few days ago at the lovely Cornell Boathouse, replete with all the pomp and big hopes and dreams of a new semester and new academic year. Even after all this time, the start of a new academic year does get me fired up, and the meeting is a good way to light the fire (side note: so, too, is the free food spread that is provided!).

Even though it is going to be more than 90 degrees today, the air conditioners will be blasting and it will most certainly still feel like summer, that warm weather season's expiration date is at hand. See you at Bowdoin Park.

Parking lot birthday wishes

Yesterday, August 27, was a big birthday day in the Marist track family. One of our senior XC captains on the men's side, and one of our newest freshmen on the women's XC side, both celebrated birthdays on Monday. In addition, our oldest son Joey turned 13 on Monday. Thirteen! A teenager! Wow!

Of course, Joey -- being the literal young man he is -- does not actually like to celebrate his birthday until precisely 12:16 p.m., the exact time he took his first breath of air at Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck during county fair week. The first thing his little ears heard back in 1999 -- other than his own screaming -- was the screaming from the rollercoaster rides across the street at the fairgrounds.

So anyway, on Monday, he insisted that we not sing happy birthday to him until precisely 12:16 p.m. With an 11 a.m. men's practice, this took a bit of intricate planning. The workout yesterday called for 3xFarm Lane tempo -- good planning, since the Farm Lane trail is near my house. Even better planning: I decided to station myself on the east side of Farm Lane, which is about a half-mile from my house in Hyde Park. And so, our Honda minivan pulled into the lot at 12:14 p.m., just as the boys were finishing tempo interval #2. And at 12:16 p.m., on a sweaty Monday afternoon, we sang happy birthday to the newest teenager.

Our senior XC captain turned 21 yesterday. Our newest freshman turned 18 yesterday. It is only a matter of a few years before our teenage boy will be a man.

Preseason is over; let 2012-2013 begin!

Our short but productive preseason for cross country has concluded. Classes start at Marist on Monday -- hard to believe, as it still looks and very much feels like summer out there. Preseason was a smooth success this year. The weather was nearly perfect -- not a hint of rain. Sure, it was warm. But the humidity was relatively low and the nights and early mornings were cool. Just perfect.

On Saturday, our women did a 3,000-meter time trial over at the Vassar College track (side note: As always, we are extremely appreciative to coach James McCowan and the friendly folks across town for letting us use their beautiful facility!). It was quite hot at the track. I got there toward the tail end of the workout and most looked strong. There were a few ladies who struggled with breathing issues on the hot and dry morning. But otherwise, it was a steady and controlled workout.

The men's team did a long run with pushes on Saturday morning. The men ran from campus, over to Vassar College Farm, and did 2x4k on the gravel road at the Farm. On the 8km gravel road, the guys did a few controlled fartlek pushes. Then, they got a little water from the van, and headed back to Marist. Some of the guys did a detour at the track to cheer on the ladies and to add on some miles. It was a 14-16 mile run for most of the guys -- some went even longer.

After an easy Sunday, it's back to work and to the daily grind of classes and practice and doubling on Monday. And so begins the long and winding journey through our three seasons of competition.

Cliffhanging miles in the Gunks with some muscular men

Love this photo! It was taken at the peak elevation of the 11-plus mile loop from Minnewaska to Awosting on Thursday morning.

Back row, from left: Datos (check out those muscles!), Walshak, Quimes, Pat Rynkowski, Tino, Ryan Colabella, Schanz, Ricky Willi. Front row: Hughes, Salek, Big Man Moss, Nicoletti.

There were other photos taken up there as well, but we won't share them on this family blog.

Sharing the lake with our MAAC friends from New Rochelle

Upon arriving at Minnewaska this morning on yet another stunningly sunny day, we noticed three reddish/maroon vans in the nearly empty lot. I surmised that perhaps our MAAC friends from Iona College might be in the Gunks for some beautiful mountain training. Leave it to Marthy to do some "recon" and determine, indeed, that the maroon and yellow Gaels were in attendance.

A few minutes later down on the trails, we saw the Iona coaches getting their miles in. And about a half-hour later, the men and women cross country runners arrived at the lake. After the Red Foxes were done with their run, it was one big MAAC cross country party in Lake Minnewaska. It was a nice, late-summer reunion of competitors and friends.

One of our athletes said it was kind of cool to see our MAAC rivals training in the same venue as us. I mentioned to him that they are not rivals, because it's not a rivalry if you never win. He took offense to that. So, for his sake, I looked up "rival" in the dictionary. Here's what I found:

a person who is competing for the same object or goal as another, or who tries to equal or outdo another; competitor.

 

OK! Sounds about right then. Anyway, we get along very well with our "rivals." They are good guys/ladies, great runners and excellent sportsmen. It would be nice if it were more of a traditional rivalry in the sense that I am speaking of, but we will continue with our Sisyphean task of chasing them for as long as we are able.

The Amazing Race comes to Stormville

Thanks once again for self-proclaimed "blog hog" Kathy Gould for sending this team photo from last night's "Amazing Race" at the Gould Home in nearby Stormville. FYI: "Blog hogs" are always welcome! We love photos for the blog!!!! Anyway, the women's team had a great team-bonding evening there at the Goulds, and they participated in a team competition based on the show. Please don't ask me to describe it: I wasn't there, and I've never seen the show. From what I heard, it was pretty cool, creative and fun. But then, we would expect exactly that from our biggest supporters and fans.

How's this for a double workout?

Today's afternoon double workout was optional, as it was "move out day" with our athletes moving into their permanent on- and off-campus residences in the afternoon. Junior Nick Hughes had other plans. The "mother board" on his laptop crashed, and he had to go home to Rockland County to see about getting it fixed (Side note: Joel probably could have done it for him!)

After dropping off his laptop to get fixed, Hughes spent the rest of the afternoon taking part in another one of his pastimes: Fishing. You can see the result with this "Cheesin" photo taken lakeside. This broad smile is a far cry from the somber mood Hughes was in for morning practice. He does not like morning practice. This is an understatement. We are glad his day -- and his disposition -- improved greatly.

Originality? NOT!

Good grief, have I been doing this blog for too long? Check out the link to this post from last year at this time, and compare it to the post from earlier today. From the headline to the content, you could very well call me Re-Pete. Oh well. No one ever accused me of having a lot of original thoughts ...

Vandy is dandy once again

Back when Phil and I started coaching together in 1991, one of our primary training venues was the Vanderbilt Mansion, a National Park historic site in Hyde Park. We would typically do 1,000-meter threshold repeats on the grassy fields on the top portion of the mansion, and also mile repeats on the river trail at the bottom portion of the park.

As the years wore on, we started using Vanderbilt less and less. We found other parks at which to train, and the river trail often proved to rocky, rooty and unwieldy for the growing size of our team.

But fortunately, since I run in the park several mornings a week with my Fast Friends, we have seen the transformation of the river trail. The park service worked hard on it this spring and summer, and the resulting finished product is a well-groomed, smooth and clean footing pathway. We brought the men there today for a semi-hard, continuous 8.5-mile tempoish workout, and they loved every step of it -- although the 7:15 a.m. wakeup call was met with much harrumphing from our grumpy boys.

And so, it looks like we will go back to the future and visit Vanderbilt more frequently during the fall XC training season.

Back to Minnewaska for more mountain trails on Thursday ...

Freshmen loving their SWAG!

Thanks again to Kathy Gould for supplying this photo of several freshmen XC ladies sporting some of their new SWAG.

Planning a feeding frenzy at home meet

Marist alum and team parent supporter extraordinaire Kathy Gould asked me to post a note here about our home meet on Sept. 1. For any parents, family or friends wanting to contribute to the pre- or post-meet food spread, she is coordinating the effort. And we very much appreciate it! Contact Kathy directly at kathygould@optonline.net. Thanks again for all the support.

SWAG, van drivers and evening activities

A few random preseason thoughts ...

--What is it about SWAG -- you know, the free team gear we hand out? -- that gets our athletes so very excited? I swear, our athletes act like little kids on Christmas morning when we hand out the gear. Hopefully, the Nike elves did a good job this year.
--Selected student-athletes are permitted to drive vans for practice. While many of our athletes covet this position, we as coaches take this responsibility seriously and as a result do not just randomly toss van keys to any athletes. Safety is the most important thing.
--Preseason week means team-bonding evening activities. Tonight, as I type this, is bowling night. Not sure what the rest of the week has in store. My evenings are filled with such exciting activities as attending/shuttling girls to and from my daughter's cheerleading practice, weeding the vegetable garden, checking my e-mails, reading a book and going to bed as close to 9:30 as possible.
--The oppressive heat and humidity of this summer has broken just in time for preseason. It is still warm, to be sure, but the thick humidity and 90-plus temperatures have disappeared. For now. Surely, it will return.

Good night.

First day of the season/preseason

After a morning of the necessary details -- physicals, NCAA paperwork and meetings -- our athletes finally were able to do what they love the most: Run. Men's practice was at Mills Mansion; women's practice was at Bowdoin Park. We had a program record four vans in use -- two for the men's practice, two for the women's practice.

The men's practice of hills went well. They were run smart, strong and with spirit. Reports from the women's practice were positive as well. Because of the late summer heat and dryness, breathing issues were a greater problem than usual. But everyone got through the first day just fine.

Minnewaska is on tap for the morning on Tuesday, with a possible "special guest" runner joining the team.

Scene from a sunny move-in day

Thanks to Kathy Gould for sharing this photo from today: Senior captains Kelley and Becca (left) do their best to make four of the newest members of the Running Red Foxes' family feel right at home.

Monday calls for team physicals, NCAA meetings and the first practice of the XC season in the afternoon.

Preseason ushers in a new era

The text came early on a Sunday morning, and it was quite hilarious, given the context: "Hey coach what time should I arrive? Make sure I have a good roommate this year!" It was hilarious because it came from a Marist 2012 Running Alum, on the morning of the beginning of preseason -- the first preseason camp in four years that he will not be attending.

Yes. Preseason begins today. It's like New Year's Day for our program, as it ushers in the start of the long and winding journey that we'll call Marist XC and Track, 2012-2013. For the next 9 months or so, we'll be "in season" more often than not. There will be cross country, indoor track, outdoor track. There'll be good days, bad days. Good weather. Bad weather. And, most days, bad puns. We'll try to include it all here on the fancy blog.

It really signals a new era as well. Three months ago today, our funny alum and the rest of the Class of 2012 graduated from Marist. That day always hits home with us, but their departure from our program REALLY hits home today, as we welcome the team back to campus -- with those men and women not coming back for the first day of preseason. Graduation was reality enough. Now, we start up without them. They are gone and we move on. They are gone, but not forgotten. They are forever a part of what we do.

Here we go ...

Spreading the word on the Red Fox Trot 5K, and my Facebook dilemma

My wife called me out today. It is a rare occurrence, and so it was startling and jarring to me. “What are you doing?” she barked at me. Whoa. What’s the big idea? I was doing exactly what I am doing right now: Sitting at the dining room table on the laptop. I wasn’t typing, though. I was scanning the New York Times. This is pretty much standard operating procedure around these parts. Heidi was calling me out because she feels I spend too much time on the computer. She’s probably right, of course. I have become more aware of my computer time, because of subtle comments she has made in the past. Today was not so subtle. The message was received, loud and clear. Guilty as charged.

The thought has been weighing on my mind for weeks, as I am agonized over whether to join the Facebook ranks. I poach Heidi’s Facebook page frequently – I was even doing that this afternoon, shortly before she called me out -- so I am somewhat aware of the Facebook world. But I have been resistant to join for the very reason Heidi accurately points out: It will be another “thing” for me to check, to read and to scroll down endlessly. More laptop time. I know I will be sucked into the vacuum that is Facebook. But I also know that it can be a valuable networking tool with our very loyal alumni base.

This has been my rationale: Use Facebook solely as a way to get and stay connected to Marist Running Alumni new and old. I could use Facebook as a way to spread the word on the Red Fox Trot 5K race, which is coming up in a few weeks. It would be the smart thing to do, right? Right? Again, I have been wrestling with the decision. I know, though, that it would not be limited to staying connected with Marist Running Alumni. It could very well spiral out of control. I’m very conflicted on this topic; there are many good reasons to get into the social network scene, but I have survived on the outside of that social network sphere just fine without it.

For a few years now, this blog has been a way to stay connected to alumni and friends of the program. But is it possible that blogs like this are passé anymore? Is the concept of a blog like this becoming outdated, like e-mail, snail mail, real phone calls (not texts) and actual face-to-face interaction? Are blogs not instantaneous enough? Do they not feed the all-consuming, 24/7, instant-gratification beast that our world has become? I don’t know. I really don’t. So anyway, I take Heidi’s mild scolding today as a sign for me not to take the Facebook plunge yet. If I ever do it at all.

And so, I ask you, the faithful followers of this blog, to do me a huge favor and spread the word on the Red Fox Trot 5K. Share this link to the race, where there is a link to sign up for the race. If anyone prefers a PDF file application, I can email it to you. Just email me at runhed246@hotmail.com (there I go with this outdated form of communication!) and I will send you the PDF immediately. Lastly, if interested, let me know your thoughts on my moral Facebook dilemma. You can email me, call me, text me or leave a comment here.

No matter what: I sincerely hope we have a great turnout at the Red Fox Trot 5K on Saturday, September 8.

Preseason begins in days; XC schedule is released

It still looks and feels like summer. But our seasonal calendars are a bit different. Summer’s basically over. The fall – and the new school year – begins on Sunday when the men’s and women’s cross country teams return to campus for preseason. The excitement is building among team members. The usually mellow Reynolds even said to me today: “So. Are you psyched for next week? Or what.” Indeed.

Sunday will begin the 22nd preseason cross country camp for this old coach. Like it or not, we will start as we have always started, with the Mills Hills workout at the Mills Estate in Staatsburg. Coach Chuck broke with tradition last year and brought the women’s team to Bowdoin Park for their season-opening workout. He plans to do the same again this year. But this old coach’s habits die hard; besides, it is a fun workout because I get to the see the team from start to finish. Anyway, more on preseason in the coming days. First, a quick breakdown of our season schedule, which was released on goredfoxes.com last week.

Saturday, September 1: Home meet at Bowdoin Park. Teams scheduled to attend include our MAAC friends Iona College, Fairfield University and St. Peter’s College. Women’s race at 8:30 a.m. Men’s race at 9:15 p.m. Hope to see you there.

Saturday, September 8: Red Fox Trot 5K. Our teams will be out in full force, supporting this fine Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club race on campus. We’re hoping for the same “full force” showing from our alumni!

Saturday, September 15: Stony Brook Invitational. New! This replaces the usual Iona College Meet of Champions at Van Cortlandt Park. We will not be running the MAAC meet at Vanny this year (Disney!), and this meet enables us to run more of our athletes. In addition, we will be surrounded by friends, family and alumni in the Long Island area. What’s not to like about it?

Saturday, September 22: Ted Owen Invitational, Central Connecticut. The women will go to defend their title. We will be a partial men’s squad to the meet (most – but not all – men will race at Stony Brook).

Friday, September 28: Paul Short Run at Lehigh. We return to this regular meet on our schedule.

Saturday, October 13: Princeton Invitational. New to the schedule. The UAlbany meet was moved to Paul Short weekend. We hope to be able to race with as many competitors as possible.

Friday, October 19: CCSU Mini Meet. Shorter race distances as a tuneup for the conference championships. Those racing at MAACs most likely will not race at this meet.

Saturday, October 27: MAAC at Disney. Hopkins’ Uncle Duane has touched base already this summer and promises to be there in full force, supporting the Red Foxes. Nicely done. This is our fourth trip to Disney for MAACs. Time flies. Seems like yesterday I was in the hotel room with Phil and Pat Driscoll and former assistant AD Sean Morrison watching the 2000 World Series Game 1 vs. the Mets. That was 12 years ago!

Friday, November 9: NCAA Regional meet, which returns to Hammonasset State Park in Connecticut, site of the 2010 Regionals.

Saturday, November 17: IC4A/ECAC Championships at Van Cortlandt.

And that’s it!

Quimes, Walsh and friends do Work on Long Island

Thanks to Walsh for sharing the following photos and results from the Marcum Workplace Challenge, a 3.5-mile race on Long Island. Team captain Arquimedes DelaCruz led the Runner's Edge team to victory with a stellar 17:00 for the distance -- great time for the middle of the summer with high mileage training. Here is a link to the results.

Quimes in the place he knows so well ... First Place.

Walsh shows his finishing form.

Runner's Edge team ... with Marist Running Alum Conor Shelley lounging out on the grass in his trademark white shorts.

Olympics ... are over

You don't need me to tell you this was a great Olympics track meet for the good old USA. There were highlights aplenty. Watching the men’s marathon on Sunday morning, I could not help but be amazed and proud of the way Meb Keflezghi – the old man of the marathon at age 37 – ran himself up to fourth place. What a great way for him to end his Olympic career.

Of course, it was disappointing to see the other two Americans in the marathon – especially Ryan Hall – with bummer DNFs. Hall succumbed to a hamstring injury, which may well have been caused by his favoring a plantar fascia injury for several months. It just goes to show you the vagaries of elite level marathon training and racing. It was Hall’s first disappointing performance at the distance. Meb, however, proved his pluck with his fourth-place finish. He, too, had sub-optimal training leading up to the race. His mental toughness carried him to one step away from the podium. Pretty impressive.

I have not posted in a few days, so I did not get to comment on some of the other races. The women’s 1,500 was particularly difficult to watch, as American Morgan Uceny was poised to make a move with a lap to go but got her feet tangled in the pack. She went down in a heap; the scene of her angrily pounding the track is one we won’t soon forget. We’ve seen feet get tangled in races – especially tight and tense middle-distance races – all the time. But for it to happen in an Olympic final … what terrible misfortune for her!

Anyway, I will miss the Olympics. I have grown accustomed to watching whatever was on and enjoying the usually obscure sports get the spotlight for a few weeks. The whole family got into it: Heidi and Natalie loved the gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, diving and synchronized swimmers (side note: one grizzled, cynical old newspaper guy once referred to that sport as “water-logged” cheerleaders; nice). Joey watched track with me, but also enjoyed team handball and actually watched table tennis streaming live on the computer (side note: I really don’t know what to say about that). James liked anything that involved hitting or spiking (no surprises there), so his sports of choice were judo, wrestling and volleyball. Both boys also asked why curling was not in the Summer Games. Hmmm. No ice in London?

And with that, it is now time to focus on the suddenly crumbling New York Yankees starting rotation …

Olympics: Epic men's 800-meter final!

Wow.

Reading with joy, part 2: The curious case of weekly mileage

As mentioned in previous posts, one of the many books I have powered through this summer included Ryan Hall’s wonderful tome called “Running With Joy.” His insights into training were excellent, giving us a glimpse of the life of a world-class endurance athlete. Like any world-class marathon runner, Ryan Hall does a ton of mileage. How much? Probably close to 140 miles per week. However, curiously in this book – which basically amounted to his training log for about four months – he does not tally his weekly mileage.

Here are a few quotes I culled from the book on this topic:

“The ideal mileage is the mileage that is right for you. More is not always better.”

“I recommend focusing on the workouts and filling in the easy days with as much volume as feels right for your body.”

We always talk about weekly mileage. When I talk to recruits, it is the metric that is always shared. When I talk to current athletes, it is the first thing that comes up. When I talk to my loyal Alumni runners, it is always the topic of running conversation. A recent text from one such loyal Alum, training for the NYC Marathon, stated something to the effect of: “I’m at 65 miles already for the week, is that too much?” My answer, cryptic as always, was: “Only if it is.”

Here’s the thing about weekly mileage: “It depends.” How’s that for hedging? But really … it does depend on a lot of factors. I do think it is a good gauge of training and gives otherwise scatterbrained athletes (men, mostly) a compass for what they are doing. But those same scatterbrained runners can get too locked in to a weekly mileage total and get in a certain number of runs or a certain number of miles in order to hit what really is an arbitrary goal. Again, I would like to inject Ryan Hall’s words here: “I recommend focusing on the workouts and filling in the easy days with as much volume as feels right for your body.”

Weekly mileage is important to monitor, as a means of making sure you are not increasing too much too soon. But really, once your key elements – long run, quality days – are in place, everything else should be plugged in as you feel. It should not be forced. Or, another way to look at it: Aim for a RANGE of weekly mileage (plus or minus 5-7 miles), allowing for some wiggle room to adjust to the vagaries of life – weather, work, sore legs, aches and pains, general fatigue, vacations, etc. That way, you are not locked in to hitting some almighty weekly mileage total, thus unnaturally forcing things.

Reading with joy, part 1: Ryan Hall book review

As promised, here is a review of Ryan Hall’s book titled “Running With Joy: My Daily Journey to the Marathon.” The book is essentially Hall’s training log leading up to the Boston Marathon. It provides excellent insights into his training. Yes, there is a lot about his faith-based beliefs in there. But it is not overbearing. In fact, it can be downright inspiring. And besides, he is truly genuine with his faith.

A few comments on the book, and on Hall’s training:

--He takes his easy days REALLY easy. It’s a good lesson for all of us. He is a big believer in recovering well between hard sessions. Again, he is preaching to the choir here. Remember my “Big Sponge Theory” of training? He seems to espouse this. Nicely done.

--He’s a big believer in specificity, another thing I like. While he loves his mountain trail runs, when it gets down the serious business of long runs and hard/long tempos, he is on the roads. Why? Because all major marathons – like Sunday’s Olympic Marathon in which we will be rooting for him! -- are run on pavement. Thus, he literally pounds the pavement.

--Like most competitive runners I coach and/or know, his quality days are very good quality. And, like most of those runners, Hall also tends to compare his quality-day efforts to those from previously similar workouts in other seasons or other marathon buildups. This is quite common, but Hall seems to be feel conflicted and guilty about this. He calls it the “Comparison Trap,” and he ponders this subject frequently in the book. It is a really complex topic, one I have discussed with my athletes repeatedly.

I have selected a bunch of quotes from the book that I really like. They are listed below. A lot of them have to do with the “Comparison Trap” subject. These quotes are not necessarily bulletin-board inspirational, but rather ideas and concepts that I really liked.

To sum up, I would strongly recommend this book if you are serious about long-distance training. You will learn a lot. Yes, there are a lot of Biblical quotes and references, and I find many of them to be uplifting and inspirational. Even if you are not a “believer,” you can overlook the faith-based stuff and really get a lot out of this book. And if you are a “believer” … all the better in terms of your enjoyment of the book. Get it. You’ll finish it quickly, and really enjoy every minute of it.

“Running is more art than science.”

“If you watch today’s sunrise thinking of yesterday’s sunset, you miss the beauty of today’s sunrise.”

“I need to stop comparing myself to myself, stop seeing myself in light of my best performance ever, and simply enjoy running and connecting to God.”

“A 6-minute pace is the gold standard for easy running among elite distance runners, but the real gold standard is paying attention to your body and recovering.”

“Comparisons keep me from reaching my potential.”

“Not comparing workouts is one of the keys to breaking through to enjoying running and enjoying every day on the road – regardless of whether a new personal best comes.’’

Olympics: Kenya believe it? Thrower from Kenya

While in the link mode, check out this New York Times story today about the one and only javelin thrower from Kenya. It's pretty cool how this guy got to become a javelin thrower, and the obstacles he had to overcome to excel at this event.

Why I love Derek Jeter, part 17

Derek Jeter is among my all-time favorite athletes in any sport. Sure, he's got the matinee idol looks. Sure, he plays for my favorite team. Sure, he is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But among the many things I admire about his game is his CONSISTENCY. Consistency is one of my favorite traits (remember, I was a proud streak runner for more than a decade!).

On that note, check out the link to this New York Times blog post about a pretty amazing milestone Jeter is about to reach. With a few more hits this week, he will reach 150 for the season -- the 17th consecutive season he will have that many hits. The only other player in Major League history to do that was Hank Aaron, who may be the most consistent performer in the history of the sport.

Olympics: Beach volleyball

OK. In the interest of fairness and full disclosure, I must say that last night I watched the women's beach volleyball semifinal match between the USA duo of Misty and Kerry (that's how the announcers refer to them, always) and the Chinese team. It was riveting, it was awesome. The Americans won, 22-20, 22-20. I feel the need to admit this after having bashed the incessant coverage of this sport for the past week. But now that we are in the medal round, the coverage is justified, and the action was great.

Now would be a great time to recap that thrilling men's 1,500 final. But alas, by the time NBC aired it (my friend Eric told me this morning on our jog that it was not till close to midnight!) I was long asleep. American Leo Manzano got silver -- the first USA medal in this event in a generation -- and Matthew Centrowitz was a near-miss fourth. Great showing for the ever burgeoning USA distance team.

For complete coverage of this final, as well as the entire Olympics track program, I urge you to go to www.letsrun.com. What a great job they are doing at this wonderful Web site for our sport. I go there -- before the New York Times even! -- for my Olympic track news. Nicely done, LRC.

Olympics: Usain Bolt

Normally, in most sporting events and with most athletes, showboating and ridiculous gesticulating to the crowd annoys the heck out of me. For some reason, Usain Bolt's antics -- before and after his amazing races -- don't bother me. For one, they seem perfectly in synch with his personality. In addition, when he is interviewed he seems a bit odd and quirky but not all that arrogant. Not exactly "humble," but not boorish either.

And lastly, in the words of legendary baseball player Dizzy Dean: "It ain't bragging if you can do it." He backs up the ballyhoo. Let's see if he can do the same in the 200-meter final on Thursday night.

Olympics: Women's marathon

One advantage about the heat bonking me out after the Kelley Race on Saturday: I passed out in bed super early, making it quite easy to wake up early Sunday morning to watch the Olympic women's marathon live on TV. It was the greatest and largest field ever assembled for a women's Olympic marathon, and the race did not disappoint. After early tactical miles, the Kenyans and Ethiopians took over with huge mid-race surges.

The last several miles were riveting and exciting to watch, as each runner tried to match each other's surges. In the end, Ethiopia's Tiki Gelana took the narrow victory and had a new Olympic marathon record to show for it. Great viewing to go along with the early morning coffee.

Minor rant/complaint: I said it before, I'll say again. Enough beach volleyball, already!

Kelley race

As mentioned briefly in the previous post, on Saturday I traveled to New London, Conn., to participate in the 50th annual John and Jessie Kelley/Ocean Beach 11.6-mile road race. I started running this race in 1983, and I have been there most years since, missing it only a few times for such real-life events as weddings, vacation and childbirth; this was the 23^rd time I completed the event.

Weather conditions were about as difficult as I can ever remember it. On the starting line, I was chatting with my college roommate and Sacred Heart track coach Christian Morrison, who has completed the race 37 consecutive years. As we were talking, we were sweating profusely. The humidity was thick. Within a half-mile, we were soaked in sweat. I normally do not like to intentionally soak myself in races; but on Saturday, I ran through every sprinkler offered on the course, and dumped at least 2 cups of water on top of my hat at every water stop.

It was no use. With humidity that thick, you feel trapped in your own skin. I ran with former Marist assistant AD Colin Sullivan for the first half of the race; we tried to stay as relaxed as possible, but there is no way you can catch up to the debilitating effects of dehydration. At the 7-mile mark, just before the major hills on the course, a quick glance on my watch showed I was 46 seconds off my 2011 pace. Oh well. Time to manage the hills and survive this beast.

In a last bit of cruelty, as I was climbing the steep hill at Mile 8, there was one of those speed-trap/speed limit signs that tells you how fast you are driving. The sidewalk was clogged with slowing/walking runners, so I hopped on the road to pass people as I gutted up the incline. The road sign said “Your Speed is 7 MPH.” As I neared the sign and huffed uphill, the 7 turned into a 6 and then flickered to a 5 before “rebounding” to a 6. And remember: I WAS PASSING PEOPLE! Pretty much sums up the day.

For those keeping score at home, here is a race comparison for me from 2011 to 2012.   

Last year, in decent weather conditions: 130th place out of 451 overall; 31st in age group; 1:30:06, 7:46 pace.

This year, in extreme-heat weather conditions: 135th place out of 545 overall; 32nd in age group; 1:33:04, 8:01 pace.

It does not get any easier. It never does.

Olympics: Riveting men's 10k final

Wow. I'm still shaking with excitement at the recently completed men's 10,000-meter final in the Olympics. Thankfully, I got home just in time from a long drive to and from New London, Conn., for the Kelley/Ocean Beach 11.6-mile Road Race (left at 4 a.m., raced it for the 23rd time in brutal humidity, will post on it at some point) to watch the coverage. (Side note: Thanks to my brother-in-law Mark and XC team member Billy Hild for calling/texting me to let me know the race was about to start).

Olympic distance races tend to be cat-and-mouse games of slow starts, fast surges and lightning fast kicks to the finish. This one essentially followed that script. Only this time, instead of a small subplot of Ethiopia vs. Kenya, there was a distinct Western tinge to it. British favorite Mo Farah came through in the pressure cooker situation with the gold medal, with his Oregon training partner Galen Rupp (he of 52-second last lap at the Trials) getting the silver. In their wake were the Bekeles of Ethiopia, who ran their usual strategic effort that came up short to Mo/Rupp.

For the record, I was not rooting for anyone. I'm a huge fan of the African distance runners, everything about them. Of course, I want to see USA and USA-based runners do well also. I was rooting for a great race, and that is exactly what we got. Is this a good day for Coach Alberto Salazar in particular, and American distance running in general? You bet. Mostly, it was a good day for us small legions of distance running fans.

We can only hope for similar races in other events to come in the next week.

Olympics redux: Putting the “bad” in badminton

Not sure why, but I am REALLY into the Olympics this year. Maybe it’s because it is in London, relatively close to us in the world both culturally (they speak English) and timewise (it’s not always tomorrow or yesterday there; or, as legendary rocker Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull once famously sang, “It was a new day yesterday, but by God it’s an old day now’’).

Anyway, the wall-to-wall coverage on all networks NBC allows us to watch the so-called “minor” sports (side note: New York sports talk radio considers it all “minor” sports and never ceases to poke fun and mock these Games; they referred to judo athletes today as “fat women in bathrobes.” Nice.). Sure, I love watching the swimming and we’re counting the hours for track events; by the way, enough of the beach volleyball already!

But what I really get into are the sports you rarely see on TV: Team handball, which is on right now, and God do I love this sport ... it's high school gym class coming to life all over again!; archery, how cool; badminton, the quintessential backyard BBQ “sport.” Ah, badminton. Apparently, the shuttlecock stalwarts have caused quite a stir by intentionally throwing preliminary round games. I did not see this, but I heard about it on the radio when I was driving around.

After further evaluation and reading up on this (check out Sam Borden’s excellent viewpoint in the New York Times), my take is: So? What’s the big deal? The goal is to win a medal, not a preliminary round. How many times have we seen a runner in a preliminary heat coast to a qualifying spot, looking both ways and jogging in? Was that runner “giving his/her all”? Of course not! Nor should he/she. The goal is to win the final round. The medal round. Whatever it’s called in the respective sport. So please spare the righteous indignation about the sandbagging badminton players, who were ultimately kicked out of the Olympics.

In the meantime, watching team handball reminds me of when I covered the Empire State Games years ago for the Poughkeepsie Journal. I always went out of my way to check out sports like team handball, judo, weightlifting, archery, skeet shooting and pistol shooting. You’ll find some of the most colorful characters at these usually off-the-beaten path venues. Are they athletes in the purest sense? It’s debatable, but who cares?

Only a few days till track starts. Can’t wait …

Great places to run

Sorry for the lack of posts as summer mode continues. However, as I glance at the calendar and notice it is now August (!), you can expect more posts as the regular school year looms closer. Preseason will begin on Sunday, August 19 – a little more than 2 weeks from now!

Last Friday and Saturday, I had the opportunity to experience first-hand why this mid-Hudson Valley area is so excellent for running. We are truly blessed with some world-class running right here in our backyard.

On Friday, Fast Tony took me for a run in the Mohonk Preserve called “Duck Pond.” This was the second Friday I went there with him, so I was a little more accustomed to the grueling hill climbing. Now I know why he is so good! He cruises up and down these hills like nothing. This course is about 8 miles, with the first half climbing, climbing, climbing, climbing … to the tune of close to 1,000 feet in about 3-plus miles. After the first half-mile, which has some technical footing, it is all carriage trails with some wonderful views – tough to enjoy when you are red-lining it up toward Skytop. After reaching the Mohonk Mountain House, we are treated to a nice downhill for the rest of the course. Great, great run. Quack, quack.

On Saturday, my pal JV invited me to join in a coordinated group run on the Dutchess Rail Trail. We started at the parking area behind HG Page Lumber, off Route 55 in LaGrange, and we ran 9 miles south to the Hopewell Junction trailhead. Like most rail trails, it was straight and flat, although it did seem like it was a gradual climb going in this direction. This trail is wonderful; great markings, and a side portion that is a softer surface than the macadam. When completed, the DRT will connect to the Walkway Over the Hudson and make for many, many miles of uninterrupted running/cycling.

Again, it’s great to have these fantastic running venues.

Home meet update: Sept. 1 at Bowdoin Park

Hard to believe, but our cross country season starts in exactly one month when we host our home meet at Bowdoin Park. Because of other activities at the park that day – most notably, a wedding! – we will be starting and finishing quite early. Tentative start times right now: 8:30 a.m. for the women; 9:15 a.m. for the men. Stay tuned for more details …

Fox Trot 5K update: Sept. 8 at Marist campus

Earlier this week, I took the measuring wheel to the Fox Trot 5k course. For those who did the race last year, the course layout will basically be the same. I tweaked/improved the turnaround point on the East Campus to avoid those annoying turns. Based on what I am hearing, the alumni turnout promises to be very strong for this race. Sign up now at www.mhrrc.org, and stay tuned here for more details on the race as we get closer.