From Dr. Jason Karp: Physical vs. mental

I receive periodic emails from Dr. Jason Karp, a running coach and writer whose work appears frequently in Runner's World. The following email, which I received earlier this month, fascinated me and I made a mental note a few weeks ago that I wanted to share it with readers of this blog. I don't necessarily agree with his zero-sum feeling on mental training vs. physical training, or that there is necessarily a binary relationship between the two. I believe they are interwoven; and, yes, I do believe the physical components are by far of greater importance. With our athletes, we spend the majority of our time on the physical aspect of the game and maybe not enough on the mental aspect. To suggest that the mental approach is minimal and not all that important, which I believe he implies, is not entirely accurate ... based on several decades of coaching D1 athletes of all shapes and sizes. Good food for thought though! Here's what he wrote ...

I was talking to an elite Kenyan distance runner who told me that running is all physical. "You just have to run," he said in his thick Kenyan accent.

There are many people who like to say that we need to train our minds, that performance is mostly mental. I believed when I was a kid running around the school fields, and still believe now, that this Kenyan runner is right--performance is all physical. The mind may get you out the door and into the gym, or on the track, or in the pool, or on the bike, but it is the physical work, combined with the DNA inside of us, that determines our performance. When you're not fit, when I'm not fit, it's not because of our mind. It's physical. We are animals.

Do the physical work, and the rest will come.

Team BBQ on Saturday

Our annual summer team barbecue will be a hot one, on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Cornell Boathouse down by the Hudson River. Seems that a decent number of alumni will be in the area this year. If you are in the area and/or you would like to stop by, we'd love to see you. It's an informal way for our team to get together in the middle of their summer -- they miss each other! -- bridging the gap between the end of the spring semester and the beginning of preseason (for XC) and the beginning of the fall semester (for track) for our returning athletes. With the projected heat wave starting on Friday and continuing for several days, it'll be hot. See you there.

USATF Championships: Final thoughts and numbers

Some final thoughts and numbers (always with the numbers) on Katie Miale’s gutsy effort last night at the USATF 20km racewalk at Drake Stadium. Below are Katie’s 1600-meter splits. I was eager to type all 50 lap splits (I could still do that, if there is a groundswell of support for such minutia … and if you are REALLY interested, each lap split can be found at www.usatf.org), but I figured the 1600-meter splits tell the story a bit more succinctly. The second half of the race was truly a slog for Katie, but she hung in there and finished. More telling are the numbers below the 1600-meter splits. Despite relatively favorable conditions, all but one of the 11 finishers – including race winner and American record holder Maria Michta-Coffey – had slower finish times than their entry seed/qualifying times. And Katie’s delta wasn’t even the greatest – four racewalkers raced slower than their seed times than Katie did. This is not to say that Katie had a “good” race or that she raced “well” – I like a positive spin as good as the next guy, but I also don’t peddle in such Pollyanna gibberish. But the numbers are stark and the racewalkers, for the most part, walked slower than anticipated. I don’t pretend to be a racewalk expert or even a keen observer, but a few theories: 

1. It was sneaky humid. Hey. Des Moines in late June could have been MUCH worse – the last time we were here, for USATF Juniors, the real feel at race time was 90 degrees, at 9 p.m. But last night, despite the comfortable feeling for non-racers, the walkers were soaked in sweat over the final laps and the humidity level crept up on them.

2. Track. Most 20km racewalk events are on a closed road loop. Along with being mind-numbing, 50 laps and all those turns may have added a lot of torque to their hard churning legs and led to slower times.

3. Night race. Most long racewalk events (20km, 50km) are held in the early morning rather than the early evening. Like all finely tuned athletes, racewalkers are a creature of habit. They’re used to plying their trade in the early morning hours in empty stadiums or equally empty and desolate road loops. Racing at night might have thrown them off. Again. These are just theories from a guy who still learning about the funky little outpost of track and field known as the racewalk.

Which brings me to the final point: We love being known as a “racewalk school” – whatever that means! We are proud of our racewalkers, past and present, and we welcome the opportunity to support current and future racewalkers. This is not lost on the racewalk community, and it was noted repeatedly both last weekend at USATF Juniors (Lauren Harris) and this weekend (Katie Miale). NCAA Division I track programs don’t usually support racewalkers. Racewalking is not an NCAA event. But Marist is a fine school, and we want to afford the opportunity for all athletes to get a great education at a great school, and we’ll support our excellent racewalkers in whatever USATF events they qualify for, now and in the future. So if they want to call us a “racewalk school?” I’m OK with that!

USATF Outdoor Championships

Friday, June 22, 2018

Drake Stadium

Des Moines, Iowa

Women’s 20,000-meter racewalk

11. Katie Miale 2:01:07.87

1600m splits

1: 8:51 (8:51)

2: 17:53 (9:02)

3: 26:45 (9:02)

4: 35:51 (9:08)

5: 45:25 (9:34)

6: 55:10 (9:45)

7: 1:05:05 (9:55)

8: 1:14:53 (9:48)

9: 1:24:51 (9:58)

10: 1:35:09 (10:18)

11: 1:45:38 (10:29)

12: 1:56:14 (10:36)

Finish: 2:01:07.87 (4:52.13)

Race finishers

Differential between seed time and finish time

1^st place: +3:12

2^nd place: +0:32

3^rd place: +6:02

4^th place: +3:01

5^th place: +1:54

6^th place: -1:12

7^th place: +10:41

8^th place: +4:10

9^th place: +5:04

10^th place: +6:49

11^th place: +4:39 (Katie Miale)

USATF Championships: Katie Miale places 11th

Very proud of racewalker Katie Miale for completing 50 grueling laps on the Drake Stadium track, placing 11th in the 20,000-meter racewalk in 2:01:07.87. Although the time was well off what she was hoping to achieve, she battled throughout the race -- especially during the second half, when it would have been very easy for her to pack it in -- and she represented our school and our program with great pride and success. People in the sport commented how "racewalker friendly" Marist track and field is, and that's a great thing. More details and photos (and yes, lap splits) to come during our long journey home.

USATF Championships: Greetings from Iowa

Greetings from Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, where we are here for the USATF Outdoor Championships. Rising senior Katie Miale will be participating in the 20km racewalk on Friday night (8:40 p.m., Eastern time). The entire race -- 50 laps! -- will be held on the famed blue track here at Drake. After sweating it out at the Junior Championships in Indiana last week, it's cool and damp here in Iowa. The weather for tomorrow night looks excellent for a long racewalk race. We are looking forward to it and feel fortunate and honored to be here for the meet.

New Paltz half marathon: Spencer wins in 1:09:10

Spencer Johnson’s sizzling June of road races continued on Sunday in New Paltz at the Father’s Day New Paltz Challenge half marathon. The race is directed by New Paltz based chiropractor/endurance sports therapy guru Dr. David Ness. Ness is a great friend to our program. He comes to Marist once a week and treats our athletes with great care and great success, so it was nice to support his race. Spencer won the half marathon in 1:09:10.20 – sub-1:10 on a hilly course and admittedly still a little tired from his great effort in Litchfield the week prior. Marist Running Alum Omar Perez, now racing for the Fleet Feet Poughkeepsie Elite Team, was fifth overall in 1:20:56.20. Rising junior Matthew Hawker had a solid long run, placing sixth in 1:22:26.30. Loyal Marist Running alum Stefan Morton was there cheering on his good buddy Spencer and taking photos. Good stuff. Here are Spencer’s splits from his watch:

Mile 1: 5:18.00
Mile 2: 5:15.53
Mile 3: 5:13.79
Mile 4: 5:26.95
Mile 5: 5:21.37
Mile 6: 5:23.92
Mile 7: 5:28.22
Mile 8: 5:27.4
Mile 9: 5:21.09
Mile 10: 5:15.20
Mile 11: 5:04.65
Mile 12: 5:04.76
Mile 13: 5:09.66
Mile 0.1: 0:30.4
Official time: 1:09.10

Omar: 1:20:56 (5th overall)
Hawker: 1:22:26 (6th overall)
Stefan: 0:00:00

USATF Juniors: Sunday's results

Our stay at the track here at Indiana University concluded on Sunday afternoon with Maria Smith in the 3,000-meter run, a race that was run in record-breaking heat and humidity. The surface of the track felt like the surface of the sun. Blazing hot. The early pace was relatively slow, followed by a mid-race surge (Maria’s fastest lap was the fourth), followed by another gear shift that was difficult for Maria. However, like all our four athletes out here this weekend, she managed the extreme conditions with toughness and all four young ladies represented our program with such pride. It was our largest contingent of women at this meet, and they did well out here.

USATF Junior Championships

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Indiana University

Bloomington, Indiana

10,000-meter racewalk

2. Lauren Harris 54:32.03 *qualifies for World Junior Championships

1:56.61, 3:54.97 (1:58.37), 5:55.03 (2:00.06), 7:55.88 (2:00.85)

9:57.58 (2:01.70), 12:02.23 (2:04.65), 14:08.27 (2:06.04), 16:16.06 (2:07.79)

18:24.75 (2:08.69), 20:34.69 (2:09.94), 22:43.58 (2:08.90), 24:54.44 (2:10.86)

27:07.21 (2:12.77), 29:23.01 (2:15.81), 31:40.50 (2:17.49), 33:57.55 (2:17.05)

36:14.60 (2:17.05), 38:29.89 (2:15.30), 40:44.87 (2:14.98), 43:02.43 (2:17.57)

45:19.74 (2:17.31), 47:39.28 (2:19.54), 49:58.46 (2:19.19), 52:16.32 (2:17.86)

54:32.03 (2:15.72)

5km split: 26:02

3,000-meter run

7. Maria Smith 10:29.62

40.39, 2:00.60 (80.21), 3:24.05 (83.45), 4:43.73 (79.69), 6:07.56 (83.83), 7:32.33 (84.77), 9:02.38 (90.05), 10:29.62 (87.25)

USATF Juniors: Next stop, Finland! For racewalker Lauren Harris

We are extremely proud of racewalker Lauren Harris, who qualified for the World Junior Championships at the 10,000-meter racewalk as a result of her second-place finish this morning at USATF Juniors here in Indiana. Like the rest of the field, which wilted to five finishers, extreme humidity and heat were the dominant factors. All of the racewalkers had to pause for water on the backstretch numerous times. We'll post the splits later, but you'll see a steady slowing of pace -- it happened to the entire field! Lauren managed it well and as a result she will be part of Team USA on the international stage again. World Juniors is in early July in Finland. Very neat! Lauren's official second-place time today was 54:32.03. Nicely done! More later ...

USATF Juniors: Women's 5km results

Once again, our ladies in the 5km tonight at USATF Juniors handled the heat and humidity quite well. Their times were not their best, but they were not that far off either. As you can see by the splits, Hayley Collins and Gianna Tedeschi went out at a brisk pace early on – too brisk for our liking based on the conditions – but it is a race and race they did. Once the conditions forced their pace to slow a bit, both ladies competed well – reacting to other runners in the race and generally staying focused and tough through 12.5 grueling laps under the lights. They even rallied with decent finishing speed. Most importantly, they did not get in any heat distress after the race and they were all smiles for having experienced this great meet. They represented our program well and we are proud of them. Back at it early on Sunday, as Lauren Harris competes in the 10,000-meter racewalk at 8:30 a.m.

  

USATF Junior Championships

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Indiana University

Bloomington, Indiana

Women’s 5,000-meter run

(Official finish-line splits from USATF Web site)

8. Hayley Collins 17:24.88

37.99, 1:59.03 (81.04), 3:19.58 (80.56), 4:40.10 (80.52), 6:03.64 (83.54), 7:27.62 (83.99), 8:53.09 (85.47), 10:18.99 (85.90), 11:45.06 (86.08), 13:11.51 (86.46), 14:37.88 (86.38), 16:03.63 (85.75), 17:24.88 (81.26)

10. Gianna Tedeschi 17:32.87

38.27, 1:59.64 (81.37), 3:20.59 (80.95), 4:42.66 (82.08), 6:06.69 (84.03), 7:31.04 (84.35), 8:57.04 (86.00), 10:23.04 (86.01), 11:50.48 (87.44), 13:17.49 (87.01), 14:43.16 (85.67), 16:09.11 (85.95), 17:32.87 (83.77)

USATF Juniors: 5km ladies race well!

Despite the roiling heat and humidity -- the real feel during the women's 5km race tonight was 94 degrees ... and that was with a delayed start due to lightning in the area! -- Hayley Collins (8th place, 17:24.88) and Gianna Tedeschi (10th place, 17:32.87) managed the conditions well and raced with toughness and grace, representing our program well. More details and splits to follow. Race action shots taken by me -- best I could do given the proximity to the track.

USATF Juniors: Staying cool

Once again, for the benefit of non-Twitter fans of the program: Here's what we did to stay cool today in this searing Indiana heat wave: We went to the pet store in the mall and bonded with some cute little puppy dogs. The heat and humidity will persist for the remainder of our stay out here.

USATF Juniors: Getting here

For those not on Twitter, here is a photo I took (terrible quality, as usual) from JFK as we were en route to Indiana. We are here now in Bloomington, where it is very hot and it will remain so for the entirety of our stay in Hoosier Country. We are getting settled into the environment out here -- a great, Midwest big university town -- and we'll get down to business tomorrow night with our athletes' racing. First event we are in is the women's 5km with Hayley Collins and Gianna Tedeschi at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Lauren Harris races in the 10km racewalk on Sunday morning, followed by Maria Smith in the 3km run on Sunday afternoon.

Race news: Spencer crushes Litchfield Hills

Wow. It was a good week for Spencer Johnson, who desperately needs a Marist Alumni Racing Team singlet! At Sunday’s 42^nd annual Litchfield Hills Road Race, a 7.1-mile race that attracts a world-class field, Spencer placed ninth overall (third American) in 36:12 (5:06 pace); there were 1,102 finishers in this race, which is notorious for being a challenging course. His splits are below. Below are course descriptions that Spencer shared with me from the race’s web site, along with his comments afterwards. Spencer earned a $100 cash prize for his top finish; combine that with the $500 he won for having the fastest Big Run time among all Fleet Feet races in the country, and it certainly was a great week for our most recent alum. Next up: the New Paltz Challenge Half Marathon on Sunday.

Course descriptions

GALLOW'S HILL: We aren't going to sugar coat it, Gallow's is an intensely steep hill right at the beginning of the last mile of the race, almost like a cruel joke. It's been rated #8 by Runner’s World Magazine in their list of the greatest, most daunting hills in U.S. races. It's the hill that made Olympian Bill Rodgers shift to ninth gear!

MICROWAVE MILE: Very appropriately named for the fact that by the time most runners reach this stretch, the sun is at its peak intensity. But don't worry, there is plenty of water available and if you are feeling especially courageous (insane? stupid?), some of the sideliners may offer our adult runners an ice-cold beer.”

Spencer’s comments and splits: I would say these descriptions are pretty accurate!  Overall the race was a great experience especially being able to see some world class runners race, such as the first place finisher from Kenya running 33:17!  Along the way there were bands playing music at every mile marker and the crowds were great.  Here are my splits from my watch:

Mile 1: 4:41.45 (Down Gallow’s Hill)

Mile 2: 5:04.73

Mile 3: 5:11.82

Mile 4: 5:10.45

Mile 5: 5:05.59

Mile 6: 5:01.59

Mile 7: 5:37.05 (Up Gallows Hill)

0.1: 0:18.65

Official time from the results: 36:12 (5:06 pace)

Race news: Hawker wins 5K

Rising junior Matthew Hawker won a small race near his home called the Good News Rockland 5K run at Rockland Lake Park. Hawker ran 16:42. Second place (20:46) was more than four minutes (4 minutes!) behind him. There were 47 finishers in the race, 15 of whom ran 30:00 or faster. In true Hawker fashion, he added an 8-mile cooldown to ensure that he got his long-run mileage in for the day. Nicely done, Hawker.

Big night at the Big Run

Fleet Feet in Poughkeepsie hosted the Big Run last night at the Dutchess Rail Trail -- one of many similar races held nationwide in celebration of Global Running Day. Marist Running was well represented at the Big Run, which was held on an unseasonably cool night -- perfect for racing! Here are the results from our program ...

1st place overall: Spencer Johnson 15:19.68 (4:56 pace)
2nd place overall: Conor Stack 16:25.45 (5:17 pace)
3rd place overall: Steven Rizzo 16:29.19 (5:18 pace)
4th place overall: Billy Posch 16:48.09 (5:24 pace)
9th place overall: David Swift 18:34.34 (5:59 pace) (in the MAMs photo)
Women
1st place overall: Annie Gould 19:48.39 (6:23 pace)
3rd place overall: Kelley Posch 20:29.75 (6:36 pace)

Nicely done to one and all.

June track meets

We have several of our women's track athletes who will be representing Marist at USATF championship meets in the coming weeks ...

USATF Junior Championships, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Saturday, June 16, 8 p.m., 5,000-meter run: Gianna Tedeschi, Hayley Collins
Sunday, June 17, 8:30 a.m., 10,000-meter racewalk: Lauren Harris
Sunday, June 17, 4:45 p.m., 3,000-meter run: Maria Smith

USATF Championships, Drake University, Des Moines, IA
Friday, June 22, 7:40 p.m., 20,000-meter racewalk: Katie Miale

We are proud of these fine ladies and we look forward to being there at both meets.

Ned's fast half marathon in VT

Thanks to extremely loyal alum Ned Kenyon for sharing this photo (note the old-school Alumni Racing Team singlet ... a new one will be on the way soon, Ned!) from his excellent half marathon last weekend in Vermont. Ned ran 1:38:04 for the Covered Bridges Half Marathon, placing 12th in his age group and 148th overall out of nearly 2,000 runners. It was Ned's first time sub-1:40 in 13 years. Ned has rejuvenated his running career at age 40 and remain forever proud of him. Nicely done, Ned!

Graham's community service in Maryland

Thanks to rising sophomore Graham Strzelecki for sharing this photo via text. On Monday, he volunteered in Ellicott City, MD (Graham is from Catonsville, MD) after a flood destroyed the town. Graham said he cleaned out a coffee shop that had a foot of mud in it that demolished the interior. Nicely done, Graham.

Tribute to an old coach: Len Olson

This post is long overdue and I apologize to older alums for the delay in getting the word out. Former Marist men’s track coach Len Olson passed away back in April at the age of 86. Len was the track coach at Marist for 10 years, starting in 1967 and also served as cross country coach for the first five years (this, according to his obituary). I met Len many years ago for lunch, along with very loyal Marist Track Alum Peter VanAken (who notified me of Len’s passing via email … again, sorry for the delay in getting this out). At the time, Len shared with me several oversized bins of historical information from his time with the program, and they are tucked away in our storage area in the McCann Center. He was a meticulous note taker and passionate about track. Peter also shared this link to Len’s obituary. He live a good and long life, and did a lot for track and field – not only in Poughkeepsie but all over the country, as you can see in the obit. He even wrote a book about the history of Masters Track and Field!

In addition, thanks to loyal alum Marty McGowan for sharing this vintage team photo, with Coach Olson in the back row wearing a shirt and tie – as Marty said, he was probably arriving right from his job at IBM. Marty wrote in an email about his old coach: “Len’s time at Marist wasn’t so much a part-time job, it was a labor of love. His way to influence the next generation coming up.” This photo of the 1971 XC team features Coach Olson, along with the following names, from left to right, provided by Marty: Bob Nelson, Pete Rock, Jay Doyle, Don Gillespie, assistant coach Bob Gisel. Bottom row: John Petraglia, Bob Salomone, Marty McGowan (nice glasses!) and Pat Stevens. Thanks again, Marty. I’m trying to cobble together a list of all the track/cross country coaches in the program’s history; if I can piece that together, I’ll share it at some point. The men’s program dates back to 1963, so I think there was just one coach prior to Len; the women’s program was started in 1985, when I was still a student at Marist, and women’s track only began in 1991 – when Phil Kelly and I started working together – so that history will be much easier to put together, because I’ve lived it! Anyway, again, here’s the link to Len’s obituary. His legacy within our program is secure.