The Dutch Runner

WAC title no 1!!

2010-05-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

Finally, my first conference title! I am stepping in the footsteps of people like Forest Braden, Mircea Bogdan, Stephen Samoei, Alistair Cragg, and many more...

My coach and I had a hard time anticipating what the competition would do. There were a couple of guys in the race that all had the potential to run under 14.30. But it came down to Utah State and Fresno State at the end of the day. Utah State had chosen a strategy to box me in with four guys while a fifth (also the favorite for the win) took off! Every time I had to struggle through or go drop and go around the group to go in pursuit. After the third (or possibly fourth) time, they got to tired and Brian McKenna and I slowly pulled away from the pack. After wasting my energy on that I decided to let him do the work(and why not, after all he was the favorite)! The pace was steady around 70 seconds per lap in tough weather conditions once again. You have to experience the humidity of Ruston, Louisiana to understand how bad it was. With 600 to go, McKenna picked up the pace for a 66 second lap. With 250 to go, I decided it was NOW or never and kicked all out! I knew I could win it and finished in 28 second last 200 for 14.26.15, which was actually a PB by 0.08 seconds!

I'm happy and plan to focus the next few days on school before I return to the motherland.

Second with a hurtful twist

2010-05-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

Today was all about the 10.000m at WAC Championships in Ruston, Louisinana.

We arrived here late on Tuesday night after a long travel period. 3.5 hours on the plane followed by a solid 4.5 hours in a bus, plus some stopping and eating brought the total travel time close to 12 hours.
Fortunately for us, we did not have to compete until yesterday (Friday) so we could acclimate well to the harsh conditions. Because it was HOT and very humid on day one. You could not scratch behind your ear without breaking a sweat outside. I am talking about temperatures of 36 degrees Celsius PLUS some, on some parts of the day.
It was hard do a 40 min run in this weather because we are not used to extreme humidity. The heat would be in our advantage, but the humidity was new to us as well.

Day two was just on our own 30 min in the morning, some alligator/snake watching in the afternoon, and about 10 min more in the evening with some more "gator" spotting.

Friday was the day of the race and I have to admit I did not feel too great on my morning run. I felt weak and the heat was draining everything out my body. So I made sure I drank plenty throughout the day and ate enough sugar!
Even the warm-up did not feel great. But as soon as the gun went off, the legs felt awesome. One guy took the lead and we all let him play up front by himself until teammate Garcia and myself thought it was enough and started to reel him back in.
The pace was staggering slow as we were running average laps of 78 before we took off. We immediately had a gap with the pack as we quickly came closer to Marcus Geiger from Idaho. Surprisingly, Eric Garcia fell off quickly and I had to work alone. But running laps of 74 (note, it was 30+ degrees Celsius and the humidity was inhuman to run 25 laps in) felt easy and I was closing in 10-15 meters per lap!
Then all of a sudden I am being pulled off the track because a thunder storm was within three miles of the track. Everybody had to leave quickly!
I was astounded, flabbergasted one might say! Is this it? I got second? Marcus Geiger won the race? ARE YOU FU***** kidding me????
This was my chance to win a WAC title, what I desperately want to write on my track and field resume!! It is four hours after my race now and I still filled with anger!

But I have to calm down as there is a second chance tomorrow when I race in the 5000! Competition here is more competitive and I will need a great race to win!

I'll keep you updated!

Fresno, School and Conference Champs!

2010-05-09T15:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry everybody that it took be a while again to post an update.
My life has been involved around finishing up school for they semester, which always takes up more time than anticipated. 30-40 page papers, exams left and right and the one presentation is followed by another. I don't mind doing all this work at all, but the days that I spent until early hours in the morning are definitely not beneficial to my athletic performance. That's why my coach always tells us to plan better and get our s*** done on time!

Anyway, I ended up running the home meet in Fresno last week because coach was convinced that running four 5000 meters in four weekends would be too much. Doing the home meet allowed me to get some more school work done and do an unorthodox 2 mile event for a change. The whole week was in duty of training hard on the track and outside the track. But we had a pace maker and planned to run around the school record (8.50).. Eric Battles took out the pace almost perfectly for three consecutive laps of 66/67. By the time the third lap came around I was already behind not feeling good at all! The heat and the wind were killing me as I was in third position behind Roosevelt Cook and Eric Garcia. After Eric Battles dropped out at 1200 the paced slowed down dramatically and when I heard a 71 for lap five I just went for it. Passed Garcia, ran up to Roosevelt and took the lead. I took a quick 20-30 yard gap and felt better running in the front. But with a lap to go I wanted to start my kick, instead I slowed down as soon as I changed my form.. I kept fighting until the end, but I gave Roosevelt the chance to eat me up the last 80 meters of the race. Finished around 9.10 (8.30 for 3000), which was obviously slow.
A good thing about the race: I was not afraid to take the lead and inflict some pain on a day that the body didn't want to go.

The days after consisted of some easy running (80 min and 60 min + 40 min).
Tuesday after we had a 10k type workout on the schedule: 2 times 3 mile!
The goal was to truly relax the first 3mile (on dirt), then come back to the track; relax for two miles and work the last mile. Simulate a championship race basically.
But, the heat and the wind became game breakers once again. Sometimes you have to modify your goal times a little when weather conditions are bad.
So goal pace for the first 3 mile was 5.15: ended up running 5.14, 5.04, 5.05 for 15.23 and I led the whole thing because Garcia was not feeling to well. Then jogged to the track (5 min) to start our second 3mile tempo: fist mile 5.01 (easy) second mile 5.06 (not as easy, as I had to lead everything again), then I started to kick it in pretty hard (34 for next 200) and the same thing happened to me as during the 2mile race. Instead of speeding up I completely died and ran 5.01 again for the last mile. Once I left my "comfort zone", my body decided to block. Perhaps this is something I need to work on a little more in the future. But a lesson is learned for Conference Championships: either hope for a fast pace from the start, or a sit and kick the last 400 race! (btw, I ran 15.07 the 3mile on the track).

Wednesday and Thursday both were easy days with good stretching, drills and strides ((50-60 minutes). I had a rough week with school while I had 4 hours of sleep on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Friday, we had our last track work-out before Conference Championships.
5x1000, goal 2.55 with 200m jog in 80-90 seconds. It was HOT once again, but the pace was easy (after a week like mine, nothing felt easy).
I ended up running 2.53, 2.57, 2.55, 2.57, 2.55 and felt horrible. I need to get some rest and some sleep before next weekend!

I will return to the track May 14th for a 10.000m in Rustin, Louisiana at 07.25 PM local time (02.25 AM in the Netherlands) and a 5.000m roughly 20 hours later on Saturday May 15th!

I will be back in the Netherlands May 20th!

Stanford or Fresno?

2010-04-28T00:29:00.000-07:00

This coming weekend I will race either at Stanford (5000) or try to break the school record in the 2mile on our home track. I was rather surprised when my coach told me I was accepted into Stanford, but more disappointed when he notified me I was not going to race there. Because I have raced three 5000's in three weekends, he thinks it will be more beneficial to stay home (not travel) and run a different event. For now it looks like I will be attempting to run the two mile race on Saturday in Fresno, but I still would love to race at Stanford. I think I can handle it as I feel strong and ready after last weeks victory!
Also: for a video of my race last weekend see here!

After the race on Saturday I ran 75 minutes at a decent pace along the bay in Oakland. My legs felt a bit tired because I could not sleep well last night (perhaps the excitement got to me). I did a good core session in the afternoon to kill some time at the meet. Notifiable is that our recruit who will join the team next year ran 3.57 in the mile for the victory (3.39 equivalent in the 1500m). All my teammates were successful with multiple Personal Bests in various events. Also from the Netherlands Marrijtje Molenhuis went 4.37 in the 1500m to break 4.40 for the first time in her career.

Sunday I met up with Adam Curry (Notre Dame Graduate) and our two Canadian recruits Olivier and Olivier. Eric Battles also joined the crew for 8 miles. Olivier Colin and myself kept it going at a blistering pace to battle the heat for 12, maybe 13 miles total. We all jumped in the pool afterward to cool off from this 30+ degree Celcius weather.

Monday was a workout day for the team. The distance crew did a three mile tempo (on dirt in flats) in 14.30 which felt controlled, but it required some effort thanks to a hard wind the second half! After cruising through the first mile in 4.40, I decided to kick back a little as we had some more stuff coming up. After the finish we had 6 minutes to jog back to the track, change into spikes and run another mile and a 1000m. Eric Garcia was nice enough to take the mile in 4.33 so I could recover a little (I felt a little tired today after a rough night thanks to school). This went surprisingly easy and we agreed I would start out the 1000. After cruising through 65 at 400, I picked up the pace a little to cruise to a 2.40. Felt strong for the thousand, but didn't want to push it too much because I have done enough! It's time to eat the fruit that has been growing for months!

Up next: Stanford or Fresno???

Birthday, Victory and more

2010-04-23T23:57:00.000-07:00

After a busy week in the school benches I decided to race at the University of Berkeley today to seek a win! But I have to peek in 3 weeks for our conference championships, so we tried to keep the mileage somewhat high the days before.

Tuesday: 60 min recovery (6.30-615 pace) for a total of 9 miles. I felt tired and had to work for the pace, but after Monday's workout (and morning run) its understandable.

Wednesday: morning: 30 min jog (5 miles) and afternoon: 42 minutes in extreme rain and windy conditions! It was seriously so bad that we just decided to jump in puddles, splash each other with mud and rain and just enjoy ourselves instead of complaining about the weather conditions!

Thursday: just 40 minute run with 6 good strides! I felt strong and confident for the race at Berkeley! No pain in the hamstring and the strides felt smooth!

Friday morning: 15 minutes easy jogging (felt strong)!
Afternoon: 20 min warm up, 5k race( start in 3.01 first km and 8.55 for the 3k) to win it in 14.38! It was not an easy last lap, but I was confident I would take it home. I wanted to take the lead many times, but we agreed that I would race SOLELY for victory and seek some confidence, so that's what I did! Of course I want to go faster than this, but if you don't get the race and you race to win, then stick to the plan! Up next is the home meet where I will try to break the school record in the 2mile (8.50) together with Eric Garcia!

Now up for a week of miles because another 10 and 5k are coming up in just 21 days!

Back on TRACK

2010-04-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

The hamstring is (magically) healed, I feel a lot better and I had the most successful workout on the track today all year.
Saturday I ran 40 minutes twice and was still in some pain and definitely not felt good, my stomach was not happy and my legs felt tired! It was really windy and I did not sleep well after my race.
Sunday I ran 81 minutes in the morning with the distance crew at a decent pace. Garcia took off after 48 minutes at a blistering pace. I tried to keep up, but after the first hill I had to let him go. The final 30 minutes felt awful! I decided to run another easy 30 minutes later that day, just because I feel I need to work hard.
Today I ran easy 40 min in the morning and had a track workout in the afternoon. Coach decided to do something different and run a bit faster: 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 4x200. Goal pace: 3.18, 2.42, 2.06, 1.33 and 30's. Rest around 4 minutes.
Ran: 3.19, 2.39, 2.05, 1.32, 30, 29, 26, 25! Felt great today and I truly believe in myself again! Hopefully i am allowed to race on Friday for the last chance for a fast 5k!
For now Im satisfied with my performance of the day!

step by step

2010-04-17T04:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last update and I apologize. I have been extremely busy with trying to be somewhat of a successful student along with trying to get my hamstring back to healthy conditions. I was not able to do much the past week as I spent most of training hours in the training room icing and stretching! I attempted a workout on Mondau; 3xmile, 2x800 in 68 pace with 3 minutes rest. I ran 4.34 the first mile and felt ok in horrible weather conditions (I have not done many workouts in winds this strong). After the second lap (leading) on the second mile it all went downhill as my hamstring started hurting again and I could not physically go anymore. The third mile I came through 3.06 for the km and dropped out, stretched a bit and did the 800’s in 2.16 and 2.09 (last lap 61?). Tuesday real easy 30 min (in some pain), Wednesday 30 min jog (little less pain, but could not do strides or drills), Thursday 2x10 min with some strides (did not feel good at all!!!).

But there are bigger problems going on near me since my coach Sean got bitten by a rattle snake past Wednesday on a ten mile run! He was running at Millerton Lake when he suddenly heard the rattling noise close to him and stopped, he didn’t even realize he got bitten until he looked down and saw the blood. He was still two miles away from the car, so his friend Adam Curry ran to the car and notified paramedics. Sean jogged/walked back to the car and was brought to a hospital back in Fresno where they gave him Anti-venom 2.5 hours after he got there since the price of 1 dose is around 3000 dollars (he ended up getting 30.000-40.000 US Dollars worth of anti-venom injected, so thank God for school insurance!!).

Anyhow, I managed to get a 5000 in tonight at Mount Sac where I ran my 10.000 PR last year. My hopes and expectations for this year were a lot less high considering my current physical fitness. I wanted to be able to be somewhat competitive and hope my hamstring would hold up the whole race. I had a bad start and was running towards the back of the field, got stuck running a slow pace and worked my way up a bit the last kilometer. I only ran 14.32, but coming back from this hamstring injury I suppose I could be satisfied. But I’m not to be honest; I don’t race to run 14.32 anymore. Those days are behind me and I have some hope back for the rest of the season. My hamstring hurt a bit on the cool down and is currently hurting a bit on the van ride back to Fresno (arrive at 4 in the morning).

I will run an easy hour tomorrow and 90 minutes on Sunday! I have some serious school work to focus on this week as I have multiple hard exams coming up soon! I will keep you posted this week and after the race on Friday!

Also, check out my race if you like on www.flotrack.com

Keep on running!

taking care of business

2010-04-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

My confidence took a big hit after last weekend and my body (hamstring) is not completely recovered after the race. Today's workout proved that I need to take care of this before it becomes an injury!

I was feeling some pain on the hilly Saturday run in LA when I ran to the beach from our hotel and back. I ran for 51 minutes and felt quite horrible, but it was fun to run somewhere outside of Fresno!

Sunday was actually pretty smooth 90 min run between 6.20 and 6.00 pace! I ran alone the first 30 min and met up with Frank Sanders who joined me for a rainy and windy 50 minutes! Legs felt good and pace felt slow... I was happy my hamstrings felt good

Today I attempted a workout in extremely windy (and some rain) conditions! Winds blowing 20 mph is not exactly the perfect running weather you hope for.
But I attempted 3xmile and 2x800 with 3 min rest on flats. The first rep was good: 4.34 after I led through the 800 in 2.16. But the second mile started going bad for me and I only managed 4.44. The 3rd one was complete hell and I quit after 1000 in 3.07! I stretched a bit, walked around and came back (somewhat) successfully for the last two 800s and ran 2.16 and 2.09 (last lap 61?/). I was happy with the finish and that I didn't feel anything, but 4 minutes into the cooldown it went wrong again somehow. I'll take the day off tomorrow and see how it feels on Wednesday!
I can only hope for the best and take care of my body with stretching, massages and icing!

It's starting to get annoying

2010-04-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

Another race, another failure that resulted in a drop-out after 4400m in the 5000 last Friday night at UCLA. I felt great as the pace was insanely slow (70 and 75 for first 2 laps) and I was completely boxed in! After about 2k (I believe) I dropped to the back until I could finally go around to pass the group and take the lead for a bit. My legs felt good and I was confident, but as I slowly dropped back into the group I realized my hamstrings started cramping up (just like in the 10k 2 weeks ago) and they started to hurt a lot! I could barely move forward anymore and the power in my legs disappeared completely. I helped out a teammate for a few laps at 72 pace, but even that was too much to ask.

I am not sure what caused these cramp attacks in the races, but I am determined to come back strong next week at Mount Sac! I feel ready to go and I know I can do much better than I have shown all season.

Ready to continue the season

2010-04-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

I feel ready to continue the season on a good note and run some good races! I was supposed to run a 1500m this Friday at UCLA, but we decided to either run a 5k this weekend or wait until next week and run a 5k at Mount Sac. It all depends on how strong the heat sheets look tomorrow night when they are published.

Sunday I did a long (rather quick) 90 minute run with teammates Eric Garcia and Danny Vartanian. We met at 9am on a chilly easter Sunday and ran around woodward park.
In the afternoon I decided to go for another 30 minute easy run with some good stretches.

Monday: I did an hour in the morning with teammate Frank Sanders and ran into Marrijtje. She was wearing headphones, so I decided to scare her (which worked extremely well). I actually felt pretty good running close to 6min mile pace.
I ran around my new house for 40 minutes in the afternoon and figured out a pretty cool loop along a canal.

Today I ran 40 minutes as soon as I woke up at 7 am (unfortunately school started again and I can't sleep in anymore). Just took it real easy and enjoyed the morning sun.
Had a workout in the afternoon: 15 min warmup, 12x400 (rest 90 sec) and 4x200 (rest 200m jog). Ran average of 63 on flats and 29 for the 200s. Felt horrible the first 2 repeats, but like Dirk said: I am so strong right now, even when my body is tired I still manage to complete workouts!

calves, blisters and an astounishing 44 runner!

2010-04-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

I know a 10k on the track has a big impact on the muscles in the legs, but the pain I still feel today is a big troublesome. Which is why I take this weekend off racing and continue next weekend with a, for me, controversial 1500m at UCLA.

Friday:
AM: 16 min warm up, 6x1000 with 2.30 rest (spikes), 2.51, 2.50 2.50, 2.49, 2.51, 2.50 (could have kept going but calves became really painful after second one), 18 min cool down, ice bath and solid stretches. I also (finally) got some treatment for a rather large blister under my right foot (souvenir from Stanford).
PM: 30 min easy running just to get the dirt out of my legs.

Saturday:
AM: 62 min along the canal right behind my new place just outside Fresno.
Legs felt surprisingly good and was able to do the run without too much pain in my calves and hamstrings. Did some core and stretches after.
PM: might run 30-40 min later depending on how I feel

Tomorrow morning I will meet with the team at Woodward park for a 14 mile run.

In addition I want to mention Tavaris Tate, a Mississippi State Freshman (19 years old) who ran a 44.86 in the 400m dash! Incredible performance!

Keep on running

2010-04-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

I needed a few days after that 10k to get back my intrinsic motivation. I took it really easy for a few days, but I have not been standing still. I realize very well that the season is far from over and one bad race shouldn't affect the entire season.
One decision in life does not define ones life!

Yesterday was my first work-out day again since the 10.000 and we decided to keep things easy and taking last year's sub 30 10.000 recovery time into consideration.
So I did a 5 mile tempo run between 5.20-5.30 pace and finished with 6x300 (regular shoes) in 50.0, 48.9, 48.7, 47.8. 47.7, 47.4 with roughly a minute rest. It felt pretty good, but the wind made it rough to run!

Tomorrow (Friday) I will attempt to do 5x1000 at a fast pace to determine the recovery after the 10k.
Im back on track and I am hungry for more!

You win some, you lose some

2010-03-29T01:46:00.001-07:00

The title really says everything needed to be said in this case. You can not always have the perfect day for a race and sometimes private conditions are the cause for a bad performance is what I concluded after broadly analyzing this with Dirk de Heer and Jaap Zwama. I don't like excuses and I am not going to use any because I know I will have other opportunities to show my athletic ability on the 10.000. I am relieved I didn't give up completely, I am pleased I was able to finish the race (despite thinking about dropping out many times), I am excited 29.55 is something I can run on a bad day and I am glad that people had faith in me!
I will return to the track in roughly two weeks either at Mount Sac or UCLA for a 3000 or 5000. I am taking it easy for a few more days to let the body recover from a rough 10k on the track.
My calves hurt, my body hurts..
In the words of the governor of California; "I'll be back"

LIVE TV (UPDATE)

2010-03-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

Everyone,

Due to media rights of CBS and GoStanford, FloTrack is not allowed to show the race anymore! They only show Audio now...
The link to watch the Stanford Invitational Live is:

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view/236780-2010-stanford-invitational

Just click on the left where it says: "watch it live" and you can see all the races!

Nils P. 01:27PM Friday afternoon(which is 21:27 Friday night in the Netherlands)
Ilse Pol: 08:58PM Friday night (which is 04:48 Saturday morning in the Netherlands)
Michel Butter: 09:36PM Friday night(which is 05:36 Saturday morning in the Netherlands)
Paul Zwama: 10:48 Friday night (which is 06:48 Saturday morning in the Netherlands)(recognized in red shorts and red/white top)

Good luck to all the Dutch people at Stanford!

Countdown really started

2010-03-22T16:51:00.001-07:00

The countdown has really started now, just 4 days until the race! I don't feel ready or focused yet to be honest, as my education comes first! I have three rather big exams tomorrow that count largely! The focus has been on this all weekend and will be until tomorrow.
However I am not sitting still;
40 minutes on Saturday with strides and some drills/stretches
50 minutes on Sunday with stretches and strides
30 min w-up, 12x400 in 70 (100m jog in 35 sec), 15 min c'down + stretches.
Today felt good, but not great. The pace felt easy, but I know I need some sleep tonight to catch up from a rough weekend...

For Friday, there is a live video stream somewhere (I will post it later if I can find it again) for those who want to watch the race live!

I also want to wish Michel Butter and Ilse Pol the best of luck in their pursuit of the EC qualification time!

And congratulations to Olfert Molenhuis who ran a new PB in the half marathon in 1.06.00 and Dirk de Heer, who made his debut on the half marathon in 1.07.35 on a challenging and hilly course!

Hot and Sunny

2010-03-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

I have to say that I am not complaining with the white spot on my left arm after I take of my watch.. It's sunny in Fresno and temperatures are starting to get high! That is why we will try to do work-outs and other sessions as much in the morning as we can. So after yesterday's 55 min run (close to 15km) it was time to hit the track again this morning at 8. Like I said: goal time 2.45 for 3x1000, but I wasn't so sure about it. It was supposed to feel easy, but my legs still felt tired. I didn't want to take the risk with spikes, so I wore some racers. After the first one in 2.51 (which felt HARD) I panicked a little because 2.51 really is a joke.. But the second 1000 felt easier and went in 2.46 and so did the third one. Rest: 3 min.
After this a few 400's in 64, just rolling and getting some rhythm.
30 min c'down and some ice on the calves!

Guess what, I think I'll take a day off tomorrow!
7 days until Stanford!

The "puntjes op de i" and some good news

2010-03-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

Let's start of with some good news; I got accepted into Stanford! Over 70 guys will be divided over 2 heats on Friday, March 26! I will get to see Michel Butter do his job first before it will be my turn later that evening. Also racing from the Netherlands are Nils Pennekamp (1500), Ilse Pol (10000) and former Dutch athlete Madeline Duhon (1500).
So that is something less to worry about, now I just have sleepless nights because the pressure is on. I have high hopes because the training has been going so well.
Yesterday was the last key work-out and I am a little disappointed to announce that we didn't make the times we needed to hit. Goal was to run 4x2750m in a park with some rolling hills on flats in 8.00. But the sudden increase in temperature (from 19 to 29) in one day made our bodies block a little. Coach had to stop us after the third repeat because the world became blurry and started to feel light headed, we finished with an 800.
I still managed: 8.19, 8.29, 8.13 and 2.16. Which is the second fastest I have ever ran here. Last year when I ran 29.54 I ran 8.40 on average, so I guess I should be pleased with the result. Today was rough because of yesterday, which is why I ran 2x30 minutes with stretching, strides, drills and an ice bath. Tomorrow an easy 10 mile run and Friday an "easy" speedy track session consisting of: 3-4 x 1000 in 2.45 with 4-5 minutes rest. Whatever feels good basically! I will take the day off Saturday to really work on school and get things taken care of before we leave Thursday to Stanford!

9 days until "dooms day"

2010-03-16T10:40:00.000-07:00

It's now 3 days after my last race and my calves are still fighting to recover the twelve and a half laps of running in shoes lighter than my breakfast this morning.
Sunday was supposed to be a recovery day, but coach thought that 14.50 would not have done too much damage that a 15 mile run would be fine too. So Sunday consisted of 15 miles (22.5 km) in one hour and thirty one minutes. My body was not recovered and I felt tired, therefore I discussed with my coach the pain in my calves and took the day easy: 63 minutes or 10 miles (16km). Afterward some strides, drills, stretches and a well enjoyed ice bath in 50 degrees Fahrenheit.. Something different than the Belgium 4x400 team did indoor as they sat in a chamber of -150 degrees Celsius for a few minutes to recover!!!
Today started with 40 minutes easy (roughly 6.5 miles) and this afternoon will consist of a 10k work-out! Three times one loop at Woodward Park, which is 2.75km per loop.
I will keep you posted regarding the results.
9 more days until the 10k in Stanford!!!

windy competition

2010-03-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

After little less than a three hour bus ride we arrived in the beautiful city of San Luis Obispo, less than 5 minutes away from the ocean and surrounded by beautiful hills/mountains. The downside of this beauty is that the wind comes everyday around 9 am (I was told by one of the local track runners) and leaves around 6pm... Yesterday was no different as the sprint results told me winds between 3.0 and 3.9!
However no excuses because everybody faces equal conditions, but it was clear that the pace was going to be slow. So slow, that I ended up in the lead the first mile jogging laps of 72 to come through in 4.50 at the mile. Teammate Garcia helped the second mile to keep the pace consistent. With about 1300/1400 to go, Joe Gatel of Cal Poly University took the lead and I answered this a bit late. I was right on his tail with 1000 to go, but he sped up again while my hamstrings told me to take it easy. I could't keep up and decided to wait for teammate Eric Garcia, but instead of him, Ryan Cosens of Cal Poly showed himself so I had to push hard the last 300m to finish in 14.50.53. A bad time, but I felt so comfortable running 72/73 in the lead that I am not worried one bit for Stanford.
I might give my hamstrings a little rest to heal up for the upcoming week!

Teammates Eric Garcia, Danny Vartanian and Max Hernanzez finished in 15.02, 15.32 and 16.15.

ps. check out my war wound after the race!

inspired by athletics around the globe

2010-03-12T19:42:00.001-08:00

World indoor track championships, NCAA indoor track championships and a fast 8k on the east coast by Dirk de Heer inspired me to run today! I felt weary and drained upon waking up this morning and wanted to stay in, but I thought to myself; is that what great athletes do? So I decided to jog 30 minutes and stretch since I had the morning off school anyway. Legs felt sleepy and couldn't really induce myself to enjoy myself, however thinking that Adrienne Herzog made it to the final of the 3000 at Worlds and the blazing 24.18 for 8k by Dirk de Heer last week (for the victory in cold windy conditions) made me feel better. The afternoon consisted of a quick 45 minute run with a few strides, drills and stretches. I had to leave quickly to make a scholarship application deadline, so I lacked the time for a well needed ice bath.

Yesterday was a rather rough day, 9k easy in the morning and a climax run in the afternoon. The climax run started after 25 min (first 25 min in 16 km/h or 6 min mile pace) and picked it up with Eric Garcia to roughly 5.08 pace or 18.5 km/h. After the run we stretched for a few minutes before we did 6x300 (rest 1 min) in 46, 48, 49, 47, 49, 47. Felt smooth, but not great!

Tomorrow is race day for our team (CLICK HERE)

I race around 2 PM pacific time and compete solely in the 5000. Competition will be minimal since we only race one other school. My goal for tomorrow changed a bit considering the very windy weather predictions. So instead of trying to run laps of 70, I just want to win the race!
I'll keep you posted!

rest in the house

2010-03-10T16:27:00.000-08:00

After a busy weekend with a long day Saturday, lots of school work on Sunday and a hard workout in windy conditions on Monday it was time to give the body a little rest. A decision that would have been different a few years ago, as I thought everything had to go hard to become better. Now I learned to alter my energy and focus a little better, hence the easy days now!

Tuesday morning: weight room for an easy weight session, some core stability and 30 minutes of running.
Afternoon: 10 miles in 62 minutes easy, legs actually felt pretty good! Felt like I was jogging at this moderate pace. I had to run alone because of some extra credit school work, so I can really run my own pace.

Wednesday: took the morning off and slept in a little. Finished a paper at 2 in the morning, so I figured I deserved to sleep in somewhat. The afternoon had a 12 mile (roughly 20km) on the program with my teammates Eric Garcia, Max Hernandez and Danny Vartanian. Usually one of those guys decides to push it, but surprisingly enough the crew stayed behind me for the majority of the run. A nice change compared to the usual. The run felt really easy, but the legs were hurting after yesterday's weights! Post run: 6 strides, drills and rope stretching!
12 miles in 77 minutes.

A small workout session and weights tomorrow, easy on Friday and Saturday my second race of the year, a 5000 at the University of Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo!

Last but not least, I want to send out my best wishes to Guido van Weeren as it is his 30th BIRTHDAY TODAY!!

rough day for the body

2010-03-08T17:15:00.000-08:00

Only two days after my first competition (8.22 in the 3000), a new week of training started.
The body felt tired this morning after a short night rest thanks to my Biology paper on the clean water act. After waking up around 8.30 I first decided to skip my morning run, but guilt made me do it after all around 09:30. Just 40 minutes easy before class.
Then at 2PM the main workout of the day was scheduled: 3x8x400 in 68/67 depending on the weather. It turned out to be really windy (gusts up to 30mp/h), so we just had to go out and work hard. The rest was 100m jog (39-40 seconds) and between sets 400m jog (3 min).
First set was all around 68, second set mainly 67 and the same thing for the third set (last two were 66, 65). The body was done after this workout and felt a bit sick, but I was happy with the effort.
Tomorrow an easy day and weights!

Day totals:
about 17 miles

Upon request

2010-03-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

Upon pressure of some family members, friends and others I decided to start logging my experiences, training and basically whatever is intriguing to post!