The track events don't get underway until Friday, but there is plenty of excitement going on, in and around London, now. My favorite sport this first week is swimming (of course). There are many parallels to track - preliminary rounds, semi-finals, then finals in many events; similar competition times (100m swimming is about the same time as 400m running, etc.), and good US participation to keep things extra-interesting. In fact, last night, Rowdy Gaines, the NBC color commentator for swimming, pointed out that one swimmers attempt to win the 100, 200 and 1500 was like trying to win the 400, 800 and 5K in track.
Once track gets rolling, it is going to be quite tough to try to wait for NBC to manipulate us with an over-produced version of a scattering of performances, when it appears the live events will be available for viewing online!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
XC Camp - Week Two
We are into the second week of XC Camp, and we plan on turning the intensity up a bit; however, we may have to be careful tomorrow, as the high is expected to be 93, and could reach 95. What does that mean? First, we are using the State guidelines on heat index, so if the heat index is over 95, we will have to delay the start of camp. Next, if it is over 90, we will have to take water breaks at frequent intervals. Finally, hydration is not something that can be done "immediately". To prepare for warm weather tomorrow (and given temps in the high 80s today), you need to by hydrating continuously. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water throughout the day!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
XC Camp!
Today marks the unofficial start of the XC season, as our camp starts tonight and runs the next 6 weeks on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 5:30-7:30pm at Webster Park. We have 31 high school runners signed up, plus 10 from the mod squad (not counting Luke who will miss the first two sessions due to baseball games).
The camp will give us time to train, as well as learn about the different training styles that we use. Let's see what kind of shape everyone is in, and get to work!
The camp will give us time to train, as well as learn about the different training styles that we use. Let's see what kind of shape everyone is in, and get to work!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Nate at JWOC
So, Nate returns to JWOC for the 4th year in a row, this time in Slovakia, and the first race was today. He had been the top American in the Sprint the past two years, but this year was second to Andrew Child.
The JWOC 2012 web site is here. Today they had decent live results with three radio controls (two were right before the finish) and the finish. Sadly, no online audio coverage as in some past years.
Tomorrow is the Long race, followed by a rest day, then the Middle qualifier on Wednesday, finals on Thursday and the Relay on Friday.
The highlight of today was the fact that Andrew and Nate were just 18.6% and 21.5% behind the winner, which is the best US one-two performance since 2006, when Erin Schirm and Michael Sandstrom were just 15.3% and 15.8% behind.
The JWOC 2012 web site is here. Today they had decent live results with three radio controls (two were right before the finish) and the finish. Sadly, no online audio coverage as in some past years.
Tomorrow is the Long race, followed by a rest day, then the Middle qualifier on Wednesday, finals on Thursday and the Relay on Friday.
The highlight of today was the fact that Andrew and Nate were just 18.6% and 21.5% behind the winner, which is the best US one-two performance since 2006, when Erin Schirm and Michael Sandstrom were just 15.3% and 15.8% behind.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Disappointing 5Ks
The Olympic Trial 5000m runs were not disappointing to watch - there was plenty of excitement! The disappointment was in the poor race strategies demonstrated by many of the runners.
The easiest runner to pick on is poor Julia Lucas. In the women's race, she was one of only 3 finalists that had the "A" standard to qualify for the Olympics. So, when the pace started out slow, and remained slow, she should have been ecstatic, because if no one went under 15:20, she would make the Olympic team simply by crossing the finish line. But with just over 1200m to go, and breaking 15:20 almost becoming an impossibility, she took off on the field, dropping the pace from the 73-76 range to 68 for two laps, before she started to falter. This allowed the field an outside shot at 15:20, and with Julie Culley and Molly Huddle helping pull along the small chase pack, Kim Conley had just enough left on the final lap to both catch Lucas and finish in 15:19.79. Sometimes a slow pace is a good pace.
And sometimes it is not.
In the men's race, there were four men who had already made the "A" standard of 13:20. Three of the four are known for their closing speed: Bernard Legat's finishes are legendary (he remains the American record holder in the 1500m), Ryan Hall and former Tully runner Lopez Lomong, who was on the 2008 Olympic team, competing in the 1500m. A slow early pace would mean that there was an obvious odd man out: Andrew Bumbalough, plus a dozen other runners who would not be competing for a spot on the Olympic team.
So, what happens? A slow early pace. A couple of runners, Mohamed Trafeh and Brandon Bethke made a brief effort to pick things up, but when they didn't sense any help, they retreated into the pack. I'm not sure what Bumbalough was thinking - it must have been either ignorance or arrogance that had him following along with a trio that he had no chance of outkicking. And what about the other ten gentlemen lacking the standard? Why not go with the pair and try to run sub-13:20 in the most efficient manner possible. When those ten didn't respond on those early laps, they were saying, "no, I don't want to make it to the Olympics".
Bumbalough's last hope was a Lucas-like strategy, but he appeared content to sit behind the big three, and when Hall and Legat popped 52s on the last lap (to just break Pre's Trials record), and Lomong put up a 54 to his 56, he was destined for the dreaded fourth spot on the finish list.
So, in a bit of irony, the fourth place finishers in the two races should have swapped strategies in order to maximize their chance of making the Olympics. But the biggest disappointments of the meet were the gutless "Anti-Pre"s that made their way around the hallowed Hayward Field track, without showing any sign that they had a desire to be on the Olympic Team. It was time to "go big or go home", and they went home.
The easiest runner to pick on is poor Julia Lucas. In the women's race, she was one of only 3 finalists that had the "A" standard to qualify for the Olympics. So, when the pace started out slow, and remained slow, she should have been ecstatic, because if no one went under 15:20, she would make the Olympic team simply by crossing the finish line. But with just over 1200m to go, and breaking 15:20 almost becoming an impossibility, she took off on the field, dropping the pace from the 73-76 range to 68 for two laps, before she started to falter. This allowed the field an outside shot at 15:20, and with Julie Culley and Molly Huddle helping pull along the small chase pack, Kim Conley had just enough left on the final lap to both catch Lucas and finish in 15:19.79. Sometimes a slow pace is a good pace.
And sometimes it is not.
In the men's race, there were four men who had already made the "A" standard of 13:20. Three of the four are known for their closing speed: Bernard Legat's finishes are legendary (he remains the American record holder in the 1500m), Ryan Hall and former Tully runner Lopez Lomong, who was on the 2008 Olympic team, competing in the 1500m. A slow early pace would mean that there was an obvious odd man out: Andrew Bumbalough, plus a dozen other runners who would not be competing for a spot on the Olympic team.
So, what happens? A slow early pace. A couple of runners, Mohamed Trafeh and Brandon Bethke made a brief effort to pick things up, but when they didn't sense any help, they retreated into the pack. I'm not sure what Bumbalough was thinking - it must have been either ignorance or arrogance that had him following along with a trio that he had no chance of outkicking. And what about the other ten gentlemen lacking the standard? Why not go with the pair and try to run sub-13:20 in the most efficient manner possible. When those ten didn't respond on those early laps, they were saying, "no, I don't want to make it to the Olympics".
Bumbalough's last hope was a Lucas-like strategy, but he appeared content to sit behind the big three, and when Hall and Legat popped 52s on the last lap (to just break Pre's Trials record), and Lomong put up a 54 to his 56, he was destined for the dreaded fourth spot on the finish list.
So, in a bit of irony, the fourth place finishers in the two races should have swapped strategies in order to maximize their chance of making the Olympics. But the biggest disappointments of the meet were the gutless "Anti-Pre"s that made their way around the hallowed Hayward Field track, without showing any sign that they had a desire to be on the Olympic Team. It was time to "go big or go home", and they went home.
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