The Last Word

Greetings, ITA NH Blog Readers:

Many thanks for checking in on the team and for your support --both implicit and explicit --over the past year. For reasons that might bear discussion in forums other than the electronic, we have suspended operations of the ITA NH Team, though In the Arena (ITA) will maintain both an athletic and a civic footprint here in the Upper Valley through local staff and board members as well as through the appointment of Ben True to the ITA National Roster.

Since making this decision, Head Coach Tim Broe has headed back to the Midwest where the deer are bigger and the water fowl more plentiful; Lex Williams has followed Tim to Ann Arbor; Jeff Schirmer has returned to his Illinois roots; Brian Gagnon has headed South where he is in the best possible middle-distance hands with Coach Frank Gagliano's NYNJ Track Club; and, as stated above, Ben True has set down roots in the Connecticut River's Upper Valley, where he will continue to mentor area youth as well as work towards his goals of hitting the Olympic A-standard and taking a run at the US Olympic 10k Team.

ITA is proud of all that the ITA NH Team accomplished, including Ben True's capturing of two national titles (5k and 10k road) and the overall USA Road Racing crown and the launching of two extraordinarily successful middle school XC programs, both of which will morph into winter training groups and spring track teams in 2012.

To keep up with ITA's Upper Valley-based Arena Athlete Ben True, please visit his blog; and you can always keep up with the parent organization, ITA, by visiting our site, too.

Onwards and upwards.

Mayor's Cup and the State Meet

The New Hampshire State Meet was yesterday and both the Indian River School program (coached by Ben and I) and the Lebanon program (coached by Brian and Jeff) competed very well. The meet was down in Londonderry, NH and there were TONS of kids there. They had scored races for Girls and Boys, Large and Small Schools, and un-scored races for 5/6, 7^th, and 8^th grades. It was pretty cool seeing our kids compete in their first big meet. Everyone was a little nervous (some even said scared!) before the start, but we had some great performances and everyone overcame their initial fear and will have some good experience for the next time they’re racing in a crowd like that!

Some of the highlights of the day were our 5^th grade girl finishing as the fastest 5^th grade girl of the day, and one of our boys running faster over the 2 mile course than he ran over 1.55 miles just 1 month ago! We had several other personal bests and great performances and everyone should be proud of their first season of cross-country!

Earlier today Jeff, Brian, and I ran in the Mayor’s Cup Cross Country race at Franklin Park in Boston, hosted by the Boston Athletics Association. It was perfect weather for a cross country race, partly cloudy, crispy-cool autumn weather, and just a little sloppy with some pits of mud scattered sporadically around the course. That was my first time running at Franklin Park, and it’s a fairly challenging rolling course with one big hill you run twice over 8k. It’s a nice course for spectators because it’s a bunch of loops that extend out from a main field that you keep swinging back by throughout the race.

The race went out in 4:40 through the mile and I’d say it took me 2 miles to hit any sort of rhythm, then by mile 3 the pace started to pick up and I started fading off from the main pack. The last couple miles I ended up running in no man’s land. I put in a bit of a surge at one point back in the woods in an attempt to reconnect myself to the main pack, but never gained any ground and ended up settling in. I ended up finishing 10^th in 24:14, which is only 12 seconds off my 8k cross-country PR. I wish I had been able to pin the ears back and stick with the lead group a bit longer to perhaps drag me to a PR, but I guess it’s not too bad for my first XC race in two years!

Jeff was 2^nd overall in 23:48, and Brian PR’d by a minute today – 24:45!!

Here is a cool Video a friend from FOSS Running Camp put together:

Mayor's Cup Results

‘til next time,

-Lex  

A New Year

Monday was a big deal.  Why you might ask?  Well, Monday was the first day of my new year of training.  And this is not the commencement of just any year, but the lead up for the 2012 Olympic games.  There is a lot on the line this year, and this past Monday, I starting the ball rolling after successfully surviving my two week break of running.  Taking the time to allow the mind and body to fully recover after a long year of training and racing is essential for continuous improvement. The body can only take so much abuse before it needs quality rest to get fat and become lazy.  Well, after my two weeks and gaining a good thirty pounds (this figure has not been proven, only speculated) it’s time to get to work.  Things will heat up quickly, as my first race back will be a 5km road race in New York City as part of the marathon weekend on November 5th.  Being able to be apart of one of the major marathons is a pleasure and honor and I am very excited to be able to watch the marathon live from the lead vehicle, allowing me a rare view of the race and insight to possible future endeavors.  From there, the rest of my fall will consist of miles upon miles strengthening the legs and preparing myself for the goals ahead.  I am eager to get back to work.  No more sitting around on the couch, it is time to get up and get out the door.  For this year is going to be tough, and I am going to work harder than anyone else out there.

Until next time,

Ben

The beginning and end of two seasons...

Tomorrow is the beginning of our last week of cross country practice at Lebanon Junior High.  Saturday the team will travel to Londonderry for the state championship, and all of the kids are extremely excited.  It has been a great experience to witness these kids develop over such a short period of time.  All of them have not only been steadily improving their times on the course but have developed a love for the sport.  Brian and I have seven runners on our roster, and they have all been asking if we can continue to meet for practice after the state championship.  That is awesome!

As Lebanon’s cross country season comes to an end, the ITA’s season is just beginning.  The day after the Londonderry state championship Brian, Lex, and I will be racing at the Mayor’s Cup in Boston.  It has been over a year since my last cross country race, and I am extremely excited to get back in the cross country mode.  Training has been going really well.  I had a small hiccup with my hamstring being overly tight this past week, but after a well rested day off I am feeling much better and have had a couple good workouts since.  One final side note... the St. Louis Cardinals are in the World Series!!!  It has been an amazing September and October for the Cardinals and I have enjoyed watching their games.

-Jeff

Off Day

Hello all

Today was an off day for me. I usually go about 3 weeks straight followed by an off day. Today’s off day couldn’t have come soon enough! It’s been a solid three weeks of training but it’s been a lot of mileage. I Hit 76 miles last week and 70 miles the week before.  I am feeling great but my legs definitely needed the rest. So today I had my deep tissue massage and then grabbed a Dunkin Donuts pumpkin coffee and relaxed for the rest of the day. Now I’m watching the Bruins game.

I’m getting pretty excited for next weekend! It will be my first XC race in a few years. I’m racing the 8k at the mayor’s cup down at Franklin Park in Boston.  My 8k PR on the course is 25:42. I ran that my softmore year in college and I look forward to blowing the PR out of the water! I know I am in a lot better XC shape now and I am confident that I will run well. Im excited for next weekend because it’s also the Middle School XC state meet. Luckily the state meet is on Saturday and my race is on Sunday so there’s no conflict and I will be able to watch my middle school team race! It’s also going to be sad because it’s the last race of the middle school XC season. The kids have already asked if I could make next year’s season long and if we could meet five days a week opposed to the 3 days a week that we meet now. I told them I will see what I can do. I think it would be a great idea to have practice every day and hopefully next year we will be able to do just that. Speaking of middle school XC we have our last “regular season” meet in Thetford tomorrow at 4:30. So if you are in the area please stop by and cheer on the Leb XC team as they shoot to improve their times from the last time they raced on this course. It’s going to be wet so if you do come an umbrella and a rain jacket and maybe some rain boots would be a good idea.

Well my day off is almost over!

Goodnight 

BGags

I used to hate running

Good Day Blogospherians,

Yesterday Ben and I became certified safe hunters in New Hampshire. We learned about tree-stand safety, and heard about various hunting rules and regulations from a local conservation officer. I think we are both pretty psyched to get a bit of waterfowl hunting in this fall as a break from all the miles we’ll be logging.

I’ve been on a build back into the fall since my last race at the US 5k. I’ve taken a few days off here and there and a couple weeks off from any hard workouts. Nice to get the mind and body recharged and fired up for a solid block of training to work the ol’ aerobic system. This fall I’ll get in a couple cross-country races, and then have an indoor season! I love indoor track and I get to run a few shorter distances, so I’m excited. I like to say I’m a miler that runs the 10k…!

It’s hard to believe, but the cross country season at the Indian River Middle School is rapidly approaching its end; we only have 2 meets left! One of the meets is this Thursday up in Thetford, VT on a course that we’ve already visited twice. The first time was early in the season, and the second time it was pouring rain and super muddy – so it will be interesting to be able to compare performances from early in the year to now on the same course (Just hope for good weather!). Everyone has been improving throughout the season; it’s not just times dropping, or being able to run longer, but the mentality of the kids and the way they look at running now has changed dramatically when you compare it to the first day of practice. One kid, during the completion of the longest continuous run of his life, told Ben “I used to hate running, but now I love it!” Comments like that make me love coaching.

IRS XC Team Photo with New Adidas Shirts!!

Until next time,

Lex

A day in the life of a non-athletic Ben

After a long season, I am finally able to take some down time and much needed R & R.  The days are filled quite differently than while training.  Here is a rare inside look at a day in the life of a non-athletic Ben:

7am: Wake up, drink coffee.  Not hungry- this is a weird sensation- the constant craving for food has disappeared.

7:05am: Run outside to put trash and recyclables out.  Shoot, forgot again.

8am: Finally decide to eat.  I fall to the beck and call of blueberry pancakes.

8:45am: Start twiddling my thumbs.  What should I do today?  Try and watch TV.  Quickly become bored and recommence my thumb twiddling.

9am: Drive Sarah insane.

9:30am: Decide to make something of myself, go upstairs, brush teeth, put on a clean t-shirt.

10am: Back downstairs, try watching TV again.  Getting fidgety.  Load my car up with the remaining (forgotten) recyclables.

10:20am: Decide that the back deck is dirty and begin sweeping it.

10:22am: See the picnic table is broken.  Decide to fix it.

10:25am: More leaves fall onto the back deck, have to sweep it again.

10:45am:  Fed up by the constant barrage of leaves falling on deck, give up sweeping and go inside.

11am: Telephone interview with Runner’s World Magazine

12pm: Telephone interview with USATF

12:30pm: Make lunch.  Takes about 40min to figure out what I want.  I choose spaghetti and way too much garlic.

2pm: Leave the house and drive to the dump to drop off the left over (forgotten) recyclables

2:20pm: Grocery shop

2:40: Donate various items to the Haven (www.uppervalleyhaven.org)

3:05pm: Return home, annoy Sarah some more.

3:27pm: Exhausted.  Take a nap

4:45pm: Wake up.  Large puddle of drool on pillow.  Decide to mow the lawn- but don’t make it outside.  Oops.

5pm: Putz around on computer

6:07pm: Annoy Sarah again.  Get stern look.

6:48pm: Write a to-do list and cross off items I already completed to make myself feel better.

7pm: Ask Sarah if the green peppers should be cut.  Get yelled at for being an annoyance

7:10pm: Finish making dinner.  Watch movie Max and Mary.

9:49pm: Brush a disgusting amount of fur out of the Otz-man.  How can he shed that much?

10:03pm: Walk the Otz-man around Wilder

10:44pm: Roommate walks into house.  Everyone high fives each other

10:45pm: Eat a dozen cookies right from the oven.  Feel great, then stomach feels sick.

11pm: Sit down and write blog

11:20pm: Fall asleep after long day of not running

Until next time,

Ben

What an Eventful Week!!!

First off, a big congrats to Ben True for placing second in the USA 10 mile championship and winning the individual USARC title for the year.  Ben has had a great season, and I am excited to begin training with him soon.

I would also like to give a shout out to my home team, the St. Louis Cardinals, for making the playoffs.  They had a great September to get to this point and hopefully the streak continues.  Now I realize the Upper Valley is all about the Red Sox but look at it this way, there is always next year.  J

The Lebanon Middle School cross country team had another race this Saturday, and the kids all ran fantastic.  The weather was cold and the rain was relentless!  The course was completely soaked and muddy, but the conditions did not put a damper on our kids’ mentality.  This meet at Thetford was much more competitive than the Thetford race two weeks ago.  There was two middle school races and ten high school races total.  Even with over 2200 kids at this race, our young runners were able to keep their cool and stay focus on their race.  I have been in racing situations where it is very easy to get overwhelmed by such a large and competitive event.  For these young kids to stay focus the way they did was great testament to their courage.  The t-shirts from Adidas came in, and we were able to get them printed and distributed to the kids before the race.  All of the kids really loved them, and they were already talking about how they were going to wear them to school the following Monday.  It is amazing how just a simple uniform can really ignite pride in one’s team!

Before the race.

After the race.

As for me, running is still going great!  <Knock on wood>  With all the miles and workouts, I have been able to stay healthy, and I am still feeling good physically.  I am extremely excited for racing season to get here as that is really the only way to get a good sense of how all this training is paying off.

-Jeff

Fall is here!

Hello all,
It may still be warm but the leaves are already starting to change and everyone knows what that means! Pumpkin spiced coffee at Dunkin Donuts!! I'm personally not a fan of coffee but I cant get enough of the pumpkin spice. I must say coach Broe and Bekah planned the perfect date for their wedding. It ended up being a beautiful ceremony and the foliage in the background of the ceremony couldn't of painted a better picture. I just want to wish Coach and his lovely wife Bekah a long and happy life together. But just because coach is on his honeymoon doesn't mean things slow down here. The past two weeks I have hit 70 miles (7days) and 67 miles (6 days) and have had long runs of 14 and 15 miles (The morning after coaches wedding). So needless to say I am working hard. This week I'm looking to hit 70 miles in 7 days. My weeks are set up with a fartlek/hill workout, a mid week longish run (10), a tempo run, and then a Long run(15). Its been working very well and I have already started to see improvements in my fitness over the last three weeks. I will have another week of the same type of schedule and then start a new phase in my fall training. Needless to say I'm very excited to be consistently hitting the higher mileage.

On another note, Leb XC is doing great. Our kids are running great and are very enthusiastic about the sport. They all want to run more then they did they day before and they are always asking for more core work. I hope they keep this attitude up as they grow up because if they do they will be very successful in whatever they choose to do. We have a big race up in Thetford on saturday Oct. 1st. We hope that if you are in the area you will stop in and watch the races. The girls middle school race starts at 10:30 and the boys start at 10:50. We are hoping to improve on are times from earlier this month. Also if you get a chance pick up the valley news tomorrow. There should be a very good article about our XC programs in the sports section.

Cheers,
Gags

End of Season, Busy Week, and XC!

The last race of my summer season was last week at the CVS Downtown 5k in Providence, RI. The race also happened to be the US Championship for 5k. I came in 16^th overall, was the 11^th American and ran 14:14. I was hoping to run a few clicks faster, but was not entirely disappointed with it. The race went out hard, then I lost contact with the lead pack around 1.5-2 miles as Ben pushed the pace up front. With about 800 to go I got caught by another small group and was able to put in a surge of my own with 600 to go, just before the final hill. One American beat me to the line in the final 150 meters, but I was also able to distance myself from the small pack that caught me just a half mile before. That was really the first time I felt like I had the ability to put in a move of my own this season, and even though it was not up in the lead pack, I feel like I’m ending my year on a positive. I’ve already taken a few days off, get a bit of an easy week here, and am hopping right into my fall training block after that. I am really looking forward to putting in the work and having a healthy year of training behind me going into 2012.

ITA looking good for the Broe Wedding.

Aside from the excitement of ending one year and beginning another, this past week was full of events. We took a team trip to Fenway Park last Wednesday. I’ve run by the park before, but that was my first time watching a game. It reminded me a lot of the old Tiger’s Stadium in Detroit. You can feel the tradition in old ballparks like that and it was a cool thing to be able to do as a group. The other big event of the week was Broe’s Wedding! Tim and Bekah got married yesterday and the wedding was a ton of fun. We had a couple friends stay at our house and my coach from Michigan, Ron Warhurst and family, were here for the ceremony. My parents also came in this weekend to visit and attend the wedding. My parents and I hiked up to an old fire tower in Norwich, VT with incredible 360 degree views, and today went to Burligton, VT for a tour of the Ben & Jerry’s factory and dinner with a view of the sunset over Lake Champlain.  It’s been great seeing all of these people from Michigan out here in New Hampshire!

Fenway under the lights.

Sunset in Burlington... Not Bad

Finally, Coaching Indian River School XC is getting more and more fun every week. We’ve been working the kids hard and they are improving in every race they run.  It is also exciting for me to share my passion with kids that are new to running and see them not only be successful and meet their goals, but also enjoy what they are doing every day. We’ve got a big race in Thetford next Saturday on a course that we’ve already run once this season. It will be interesting to see how much better all of the kids run the second time around on the Thetford course after having 3-4 races under their belts.

Until Next Time,

-Lex

From Thetford to Fenway and back again

Last week we saw witness to our first middle school cross-country race.  Held on the challenging trails of Thetford Academy, my fifth through eighth graders raced around a hilly three kilometer course and displayed mighty pluck and vigor for their first trail race of the season.  We had many great results, including our ferocious little sixth grader leading most of the way, all awhile giving two eighth graders a run for their money, and a dynamic duo of sisters finishing an astounding third and fourth in the women’s race.  It has been great to see the kids get nervous and anxious for races, fidgeting and fluttering over their own pent up excitement.  The sense of accomplishment from finishing the race seen on their faces is as rewarding as it comes.  Practices have been going great and our program which started with only a few runners has blossomed to nearly thirty kids, all of whom only become more and more zealous to run by the day.

And it has not only been my middle schoolers who have been putting in the miles and flying around a race course.  I recently ran my own race amongst a fervor of activity.  Last weekend, after traveling down to Boston to join my family at Fenway Park and watching the Red Sox garner a rare win, I myself continued down the east coast to Rhode Island for the USA 5km road Championships.  Luckily enough after watching the Red Sox post a win, I was able to follow in their footsteps and cross the line first, giving myself my second National road title of the year.  And with only one more race on the docket, I am hoping to be able to continue my good fortune before ending my season.  So if watching the Red Sox helped fuel my winning drive last weekend, hopefully driving back down to Fenway to watch another game with the team tonight will aid me in my last race of the season.  At least it’s worth a try right?

Until next time,

Ben

Ben True Representing!!!

I want to start by saying congratulations to Ben True for following up his USA 10K Championship win with a USA 5K win!  For all of you who watched online, I am sure you witnessed how gutsy of a race it was.  To not only lead a large share of the race but to save enough in the tank for a mean kick up a hill was very impressive indeed.  Also, congratulations to Lex Williams who finished as the 11^th American overall.  Now that Lex is finished training for races this summer, we will finally begin training together on the same schedule; something I am looking forward to as he is a very talented runner and will definitely help me to improve as an athlete.

On a more personal level… last week was one of many milestones to come in my career here at ITA.  When I moved to the upper valley, I told myself that I would start taking care of all the small details for the first time in my running career.  I want to see just how good I am capable of becoming, and I realize that in order to accomplish this goal it is those details that will inevitably shape the results.   It has now been 18 days since I arrived in Hanover, and I have definitely made some big strides in the right direction, though there are many more to go.  Not only did I reach 70 miles last week for the first time ever, I am now paying much more attention to the things that I put in my body as well.  Training is going great (knock on wood).  I feel as though I am in the best shape of my life; probably due to the much improved diet.  J  I am already beginning to get excited for the track season to arrive and have set some very high standards for myself and looking forward to the challenge.

-Jeff

And so it begins

Hello all,
So not much to report on at the moment. Training is going very well. I just had my meeting with Coach to talk about the fall training and we have something really good cooking up! But for right now I am just working on getting up to 70 miles a week and feeling comfortable doing it. In about a month we will start our first phase of this years training and I couldn't be more excited about it. I will be racing some XC this fall too, which really excites me. I always like running a few XC meets in the fall so this year that's exactly what I'm going to do. I know for a fact that I will be running the Mayors Cup in Boston followed by USATF New Englands. I plan on breaking my 8k pr of 25:42 so I guess you can say that's one of my short term goals!

On another note,

Yesterday was our first middle school XC meet and it went very well. The kids went out an ran great even though we only had two practices leading up to the meet. But that didn't stop two of our boys from placing 8th and 12th respectively. It also didn't stop the rest of the team (Boys and Girls) from getting out there and racing. Everyone had fun and the kids are really looking forward to our next practice. They are even asking to run hills!! These kids are great and I'm really looking forward to working with them for the next two months. The only issue we had was  one of our kids got sick and couldn't make it to the race. Hopefully we will have our entire team for the next race! Speaking of that our next race is in Norwich on Thursday @4pm so if you are in the area you should stop by and check it out.


Brian

Fall Is Upon Us!

As many of you know by now, Ben and I have started coaching cross-country at Indian River Middle School in Canaan, NH. We've got 29 kids on our roster and have been having a great time coaching. I think my favorite moment so far early this season was putting the kids through a hill workout last week. That's the first time I've ever been on the other side of the workout - from the coach's perspective and not the athlete's.

The highlight of the workout was all of the complaints coming from the kids.  "I can not do any more." "My legs are dead." "This is the hardest thing I've ever done!" All of those came straight out of the kids mouths. So you must think that I'm a sick and twisted coach for liking to hear those things...! But I'm not. You see it's the challenge of turning comments like those around that makes coaching kids so rewarding. One kid in particular was having an especially difficult time on the hills - so I asked him - are you going to be able to walk away from this workout proud of yourself, able to say you gave your very best? I told him I thought he had one more in him. After making the choice to do one more, he comes down the hill with his arms raised and proclaims "I did it! I believed in myself and I did it!" And the best part about that was he continued to do 2 more. It was awesome.

My own training has been going well lately and I'm feeling ready to roll going into the US Road 5k Champs/CVS 5k on Saturday in Providence, RI. For those of you interested in checking out results - or live video on Saturday - here is a link:

http://www.runnerspace.com/USA-5km

Race Time 11:15AM EST.

I hope you tune in and watch as both Ben and I are running. Also - if any of you have been following the standings in the US Road Running circuit, Ben is currently 2nd overall and trying to make a push for the lead this weekend. Just one more cool reason to watch!

Until next time,

-Lex

Year End Review

So it’s been a year.  Crazy to think, it seems like just yesterday I returned to the Upper Valley eager to meet the new team and new coach.  A brand new training program, slowly developing out of infancy, stretching out it’s arms in wonderment and discovery.  All of that is now behind us.  Those timid steps of toddlerhood seem as a distant past.  The ups and downs, leveled.  The first year, the year of learning, is over.  There has been some mistakes, some progress, and a new understanding.  When I sat down in a recent year end review, there were many things to point towards as success: making the World Cross-Country team, running an Olympic “B” standard in the 5km, a national title, and many podium finishes on the roads.  These are all good things, and Tim and I must note where things did go right.  However, and yes there is always a however, I did not meet my goals for the year.  I did not run the Olympic “A” standard in either the 5km or 10km and I did not qualify for the World Championships in Daegu.  So how do I remedy this?  I must build upon the positives, remember what worked in training, and note what can be improved upon.  The year end review is the perfect time to really scrutinize and examine all aspects of the year.  From the quality of recover and sleep, to diet, overall well-being, and finally the day in and day out of training.  All must be accounted for, and all must be assessed for flaws.  It is a time of reflection and then action.  Once a flaw is unveiled, action must take place for change to allow yourself the best chance of success.  So while year one may have come to an end, year two has already begun.  The Olympic Trials are only ten months away, so it is time to get to work.

Until next time,

Ben

How about that ride in! :)

Well hello Hanover, NH and to all the followers of the ITA blog.  My name is Jeff Schirmer and I am the newest addition to this great up and coming post collegiate team.  This is my first attempt at blogging so for all you pros out there, please be patient I’m sure it will take a little practice for me to get this down.  These past few weeks have been a little crazy for me so I will just begin with my trip to the Upper Valley.

Let me start with a warning for all of you.  Never attempt to move halfway across the country with all your possessions in a compact two door car.  After hours of packing every little inch of space in my car I still ended up throwing a good amount of things away or giving them to my SIU teammates including my bed, furniture, and TV.  Driving 20 hours from Illinois to New Hampshire is no easy task by itself; now add to that only being able to see out your left mirror and the car almost grinding on the back tires because of all the weight.  It was pretty scary at points where there was heavy traffic.  Finally, on the second day of traveling my GPS was down to just 50 miles to go and I thought to myself the worst is behind me and I will be there in an hour.  Well let’s just say that hurricane Irene was not to kind to Vermont.  On top of all the curvy mountainous roads, the last 50 miles Mother Nature had decided to completely wipe out many of the roads in Vermont, including two of which my GPS was telling me to take to get to Hanover.  To sum this up, the last 50 miles took roughly two and half hours.

Well that’s enough with the bad, now let me get on with the good news.  I am loving everything about Hanover so far.  Though I have only been here for four days I am excited for this up and coming year of training.  The running around here is very hilly but that will only add to the fitness I hope to gain here.  Ben, Brian, and Lex have welcomed me with open arms and are great teammates to have.  I’m looking forward to training with and getting to know them better.  I am also extremely excited to begin coaching Lebanon Middle School with Brian this week.  There has always been a part of me that has wanted to coach and give back some of the knowledge I have gained over the past years during my running career.  Running was always an outlet for me when times were rough in my life and has opened so many doors for me.  If I can give that back to just one kid on this team I will feel like I was successful.  The main thing however will be to let these kids know that running can and should be a fun, social, and healthy lifestyle.

-Jeff

Time to get busy!

Hello all,
Camp is over and summer is almost at its end. That means its time to get after base training! For the next couple of months I will be cranking up the mileage and doing a lot of tempo and fartlek work. I'm pretty excited, as you all know its a big year coming up! The trials are about 10 months away so its time to get after it. 10 months seems like a long ways away but for me its going to fly by. The 08 trials feel like they were yesterday and now here we are 10 months away from 2012's trials. Its going to be a tough road ahead but if it were easy then everyone would do it right? I signed up for this knowing it was going to be tough! But I think that's what motivates me to keep going. The idea that even if I fail I still know that I gave my best to try to accomplish something that most think impossible.


Its also time to get busy coaching middle school XC.  Jeff and I will be taking on Lebanon middle school cross country. We don't start practice till next week but we have already started writing up workout plans and are getting very excited to meet our new athletes. I'm excited for this opportunity because I really want to get into coaching when I'm done competing professionally and I think this will be a great start.  Whats good about this program is that we are not trying to push these kids into hard training. We simply are trying to build their love for running and teach them stretches and drills that will help them become better athletes as they get older. Whether its running or another sport. We Just want them become stronger and teach them things now so that they don't develop injuries later on in life. Needless to say its going to be great experience and I look forward to the challenge

Alright its getting late and Ive got a tempo run in the AM Good night everyone!

Gags

First Day of Middle School XC

Last Thursday was the first day of our new cross country program at Indian River Middle School in Canaan, NH. Ben and I showed up early to 5^th grade orientation, met some of our kids, then got a tour of the campus to see what area of the fields we can use for warm-ups etc. when we get things rolling! We started practice teaching all the kids the warm-up routine that we’ll be doing every day before practice starts. It takes a while to get a new routine down, especially for kids who have never done any type of drills or dynamic stretching before, but it will definitely get easier (and faster!) as the season progresses, and will pay off in the long run learning to do a proper warm-up. We have a group with a huge variance in ability, but Ben and I are up to the challenge as coaches and just want to make sure that everyone is having FUN! All of the kids have different reasons for joining the cross country team, but as long as we try to instill a good work ethic, and make sure they enjoy coming to practice, our job is done and the rest will take care of itself. Next practice is Tuesday (their first day of school), then we roll into a M/T/Th practice schedule.

Last week was kind of a big discovery for me in terms of my own running. I’ve been really struggling lately with workouts, experiencing difficulty breathing and tightness in my chest and throat area. I went to see the doc and they did some basic pulmonary function testing and determined that I have allergy/exercise induced asthma. Kind of a bummer to hear, but it seems to be an easy fix as I’ve already tested out running with my shiny new inhaler and I feel like a new person. It’s a pretty incredible feeling being able to breathe again.

So I have been reading up online about how to minimize the effects of asthma and a couple different sources recommend Fish Oil supplements, caffeine, and practicing different breathing techniques/exercises. I am going to test some of these out and see if they make a difference. Also interesting is the long list of famous athletes diagnosed with asthma. My personal favorite, who I remember from watching the Olympics as a youngster, is Tom Dolan, a swimmer from the University of Michigan with 2 Olympic Gold medals and one Silver… from Wikipedia “Dolan was diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma and a narrowed windpipe, which would side-line the normal person. He only trained harder and exhaustion, dizziness and occasional blackouts never stopped him from swimming.” I think that’s pretty neat. Others include Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Jerome “The Bus” Bettis, and “The Worm” aka Dennis Rodman. 

-Lex

A Week of Excitement

This week has been (and continues to be) a host to many exciting events.  From the installation of HD TV into my household (wowzers), to the start of middle school cross-country practice tomorrow (yee haw) the week is bursting with elation.  And to top it off?  Dirt track racing at the Canaan Fair Speedway on Friday night.  Can there be anything better to cap off a great week than watching late model race cars hurl themselves around a quarter mile dirt track at breakneck speeds?  I think not.

Tomorrow marks the birth of the middle school cross-country program at the Indian River School in Canaan, NH where Lex and I will be coaching eighteen eager athletes for ten weeks.  I am thrilled to be able to share my joy of running to new athletes- a few of whom have never run before, and many of whom have never participated in organized athletics.  Our season, while only a scant ten weeks, will consist of six official races where our athletes will be able to compete against kids from the surrounding towns and garner new personal bests over the roughly three kilometer courses.  It will be the first time such an program has been offered at Indian River School and I hope to be able to make the experience a positive one- not only for myself and athletes, but also for the community at large- in hopes that more after school programs will be born in the wake of our footsteps, enriching the children’s lives while instilling a love for an active and healthy lifestyle.

So as you can bare witness, this week is pretty cool.  Who knew with my new conversion to high-definition that television could get any crisper?  Words cannot describe watching the reply of the NASCAR race in Michigan in full 1080i (whatever that means).  So what if a recent study in Australia concluded that for every hour a person (over the age of 25) watches of TV, they take 22 minutes off their lives.  I guess it just proves the need for programs like the one we are starting tomorrow and actively reaching out to the kids in our community to make sure they get off the couch, turn off the TV, and get active.  It is never too early or too late to get involved with changing a life.

Until next time,

Ben

For a link of the study regarding TV exposure and early death click here

Camp Foss

Hey all,
Im writing you from camp foss. Sorry my blog is a little late it gets very busy around camp and there are only a few computers in camp so internet accesses is limited. So anyways camp is going great!. Coach Broe came in last week an spoke to the kids and they loved it. The kids thought he gave a great speech and they all learned alot about mental toughness and hardwork. The campers would come up to me asking if he was going to come back next year and that it would be cool if he was a counclor here at camp. And I thought to my self wow these kids only had a day or so with him and they were motivated to go out an run there butts off and I get the pleasure of being coached by him. I find my self lucky and really excited to get back to hanover and get back into "Beast mode". 

Anyways its now week two and we have a new group of about 240 highschool athletes and so far things are going great. The weather has been nice and sunny and none of the kids have gotten hurt yet.. knock on wood.... I say "yet" because last week one of my campers took an elbow to the face and broke his nose. I must give the kid credit he broke his nose on tuesday night and toughed it out and stay at camp all week. He was well aware that the longer he waited the more its going to hurt when they have to rebreak it back into place. But the kid was a champ and really enjoyed camp so he stayed. It was the first time ive seen a kid break his nose and not have it bleed. Oh and another good thing! the food has actually been very good this year. Some years the food has been barely eadible but this year its really good.

But I gotta head out now the campers just got out of there morning meeting and its almost run time! I hope everyone is enjoying the end of summer.

Cheers,
Gags

XC Season on the Horizon!

This is the awkward time of year for professional track athletes. Some are preparing for the World Championships in Daegu, Some are taking down time after a long track season, and some are still trucking away into the late fall at road races. The blueprint is much different for each individual in contrast to early spring where everyone is on their way out to Palo Alto to run fast times. It’s also strange to think that if I were still competing in the NCAA, I would be gearing up to go to pre-season cross-country camp up in northern Michigan - The beginning of three long competitive collegiate seasons before another break in the summer.

Interesting enough is that we are meeting today to discuss fall cross-country plans - but not for us – for the Middle School programs in Lebanon and Canaan. Ben and I are teaming up to coach the group in Canaan and I’m really looking forward to getting started. It will be really fun having freedom of control and trying to help the kids improve throughout the season. But more important than that, I think it will be rewarding to see each kid grow an appreciation for and love of distance running. Can’t wait.

As Ben mentioned in his last blog, he raced Falmouth last weekend. I was there too and (to say the least) it did not go so well! Bad races are a tough pill to swallow, especially when they come in the middle of a season. The difficult thing is that you have to find a way to keep yourself motivated and not throw in the towel on the rest of your year because of one bad race. I know that my performance was not an indicator of my ability or current fitness, but the difficult part to get past is that it still happened. You do everything you can to prepare, and for some reason the results you achieve fall short (sometimes very short) of what you expect. That being said, the plan of attack for training towards my next race may change a little bit, but the manner in which I attack it will not. If anything, I am more motivated now to make sure I am doing everything I need to so it doesn’t happen again!

-Lex

Putting in the Miles

These last few days I’ve put in the miles- and no, not the good miles seen with hard work and sweat- but the long arduous miles of travel.  I have spent my last week Jet setting across the Atlantic, riding countless trains and driving hundreds of miles in cars.  It’s no wonder I am exhausted.  After spending time in Europe, watching a terrific triathlon, and participating in a 5km myself- I flew back stateside on Tuesday so I would be able to race in the Falmouth Road Race which was held earlier today.  Going into the race I was excited, Falmouth is always a great race to run with wonderful crowd support and thirty-nine years of tradition.  I had high aspirations, despite my somewhat hectic travel schedule, but failed to figure in that whole “fatigue” element.  Who thought that sitting on an airplane all day and driving countless hours wouldn’t be great recovery?  Well, apparently it’s not.  So after toeing the line, and forcing myself through two grueling miles, my body started sputtering, backfiring, and fizzing.  Somehow I was able to navigate the old beaten down chassis around the rest of the course (although I did eye many places were I disparately wanted to pull off) and was able to salvage a respectable, although disappointing, finish.  So time now for me to settle down and lay low for the next few weeks.  To get back into the rhythm of training, put in some of the good miles while avoiding the bad, and recharge the batteries.  There are still a few more races left on this season’s schedule and many more miles to run.

Until next time,

Ben

Plantar how ever you spell it!

Not to much to talk about this week. Ive been running about 5-6 miles a day and slowly working back into distance shape. Right now my plantar fascia has been bothering me on my right foot. I guess the term is I have Plantar Fasciitis. Its not to bad at the moment which is good. It started hurting at the beginning of my runs an then it would go away mid way through. After talking to coach about it, I wake up an before I even take a step out of bed I dig my thumbs in and really massage it. An let me tell you it hurts! but after I do it I feel much better walking around. Also I constantly stand and roll my right foot on a trigger point roller. So now when I go out for runs I don't feel it at all so I take it as a good sign!

Besides running I have been up at the barn painting and playing some video games!  It's been nice and relaxing which is good because things are going to start heating up. I have Camp Foss for two weeks starting this sunday and then Its right to middle school cross country in Caanan and Lebanon. But for right now Im going to enjoy my last few days in "the off season" and then its back on the grind!


Brian

Not the heat, the humidity!

I have been in Ocean City, NJ for the past week catching up with family and enjoying a week at the beach. The jersey shore gets a bad rap from that piece of trash television show on MTV, but I think it’s great. I consider it almost a second home since I have been out here for at least some amount of time every summer of my life. I used to come out here for the entire month of August when my grandma owned a house in Ocean City and the familiarity of it all makes it feel “homey.” I learned to ride a bike here, bodysurf, and used to run in the Thursday night fun runs at the local high school track! I’ve run a couple workouts there since I’ve been down at the shore with my brother-in-law, Corey Nowitzke, who is a stud steepler (8:27!) that graduated from Eastern Michigan University a few years back. He was calling his trip to Ocean City “training camp” because I dragged him out for all my runs and doubles… Even made him do a couple core sessions with me! He’s training to race the Crim and the Detroit Half Marathon.

This picture took me forever to rotate the correct way, so you better enjoy it.

I have been struggling out here in the humidity… You know, they say it’s not the heat that will get you, but the humidity… And they are right, whoever they may be. Hopefully it will just make me a bit tougher when I race Falmouth next weekend.

There is a serious difference in climate down here in Jersey at the shore compared to Hanover and New England. I start sweating immediately, and even find the air tough to breathe down here when I’m running hard. A few days ago, however, I read an article about training in the heat that said it gives you an advantage over those who train in more temperate climates… According to the article heat training gave the tested cyclists an average advantage of 7%!! That’s almost as good as altitude… So everyone go out there and run in a sweatshirt in the middle of the day! Please don’t do that, I am only joking, but the article is worth a read: http://runningtimes.com/Print.aspx?articleID=23360

Finally, I have been having some wild dreams lately. Strange dreams not worth delving into, but I only found it ironic that this message was on my PF Changs fortune cookie tonight:

I will make the Olympic team in my dream tonight.

 -Lex

PS follow me on Twitter: @lexwllllams

Davos!

This past week I have been living the high life in Davos-Platz.  This quiet idyllic little city nestled in the Swiss Alps has been quite the bustling place these last few days, filled with a rare combination of peoples and celebrations.  For starters, every August sees an assemblage of Orthodox Jews for a national religious convention.  Transcending in vast numbers, hotels and apartments are booked beyond capacity.  This year also saw the Swiss Alps Marathon come to town.  Runners from all over the world journeyed to Davos to take part in the half, full, and ultra marathons in the thin mountain air.  And to top it all off- August 1st is Switzerland’s national holiday- complete with street fairs, fireworks, and buffoonery.  It was a great time to be in Davos to say the least.  And all awhile, as the excitement engulfed the town, I was able to have my own reflection.  It happened while I was out for a warm up jog before a rather uneventful workout.  Sauntering around the gravel path which followed the lazy canal through town I happened to look up to watch two Nordic skiers rollerskiing past in a blaze of might and strength.  Their coach frantically trying to keep pace on a mountain bike shouting instruction.  As they glided past, I recognized one of the athletes, his towering frame an image of sheer power, as a man I had once raced many years ago.  It was interesting to see Dario ski past as the same guy who I raced in Finland six years before at the World Junior Championships.  Back in the day we toed the line of the 20 kilometer pursuit, each a newborn to the realm of international ski racing.  Battling back and forth throughout the race, he went on to finish 29th to my 39th, breaking the tape twenty seconds ahead of me.  To think of that happening now, to see how our lives have diverged.  Today I have switch sports, ending my silly dalliance with skiing to focus on running.  And of my rollerskiing compadre?  He went on to be ranked second in the world, an Olympic gold medalist, and winner of numerous World Cup victories.  To watch Dario Colonga stride past, a present day Nordic skiing god, was to watch the pinnacle of sport.  However before I had time to dwell, he sped off out of view, leaving only the echoing of his ski poles striking pavement as a reminder of what had past.  Reminiscing, I shifted my gaze back to the gravel path I was jogging along and cracked a smile- for I was about to begin my own track session and there wasn’t anything else in the world I would rather be doing.

Until next time,

Ben

Showing off my new Swiss bandage

Check out this delicious Swiss holiday bread

Day 1

Today was my first day back to training. I took a few weeks off and now im ready to move forward and look towards some serious training this fall! I went on a four miler today and things felt good. I plan on sticking to about 4-5 miles a day for the next week or two with a longer run here an there. I don't want to rush into things to quickly so im gonna take my time building back up!  Im also lifting twice a week with our strength coach Wayne. Nothing to heavy yet just light stuff to get back into the whole lifting routine. I am really excited about the training this fall. I know this past year was a big disappointment and it has been frustrating especially the things that I had no control over. But last year was by no means a waste! I have learned a lot from it and I know coach has learned a lot from it too. We are going to take all the ups and downs from last year and really get after this year!

I am also really excited because I will be heading back to Camp Foss in less then 13 days! Camp Foss is a running camp for high school aged kids. I went my senior year in high  school and I loved it so much I managed to get a job helping out and now I work there as a councilor. The camp is so well liked that Week one sold out in November and week two sold out in February! not bad considering the camp doesn't start till August 15th. The camp is run by Kevin Maloney who is a great boss and a great friend! If you want to learn more about the camp check it out here.. Fossrunningcamp.org.  Its by far the best two weeks of summer! There are great trails and dirt roads to run on as well as a lake to hop into after your run. Cant think of  a better place to start my training.... besides the upper valley of course ;). And Coach Broe is coming this year! Hes going to come up to guest speak for both weeks.

And Wow its already August 1st! I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the summer

Gags

PEMI Youth 5k/10k

Good day everyone!

I hope you are enjoying the summer, it is in full effect! I ran another local race this past weekend in Plymouth, NH… In fact, I ran two races! I ran a 5k in 14:44, setting a new course record by 25 seconds then ran a 10k 15 minutes later in 31:26, setting another course record. I had an 8 mile tempo on my workout schedule and discovered these races online so Broe gave me the option to do the tempo by myself or hop in and get the hard effort in on the race course. It was a no brainer for me, and much easier to do the work with other runners around me. It was a fun local environment too and met some new people.

The races were both hosted by the PEMI Youth Center, who has after school programs going on in Plymouth. One of the people I met was the coordinator at the Youth Center who I’m meeting with sometime in August to talk about how they got started and what they’ve got going on down there. I’m hoping that our meeting will give me some ideas for how to get even more involved in the communities surrounding the Upper Valley and maybe even creating something from scratch.

Other than the recent races, there hasn’t been a whole lot of action in Hanover. I’ve just been training hard, recovering, and trying to enjoy all the nice weather we’ve been getting. I have my training plan all set up from now through the US 5k - complete with a couple time trials. So between the time trials and Falmouth I should have plenty of ammunition for future blogs.

This weekend I am heading down to Ocean City, NJ to meet up with my family for a week at the beach. My grandma lived there for 35 years and I have been to the jersey shore every summer of my life. My parents rent a place down there now and all of my relatives from my mom’s side will be there, so it’s somewhat of a family reunion. I am looking forward to getting a macaroon from George’s on the Boardwalk, the world’s best cheesesteak from Voltaco’s, and seafood from Smitty’s and The Lobster House! I honestly think there is some of the best food in the world there. I didn’t even mention the sticky buns from Mallon’s, Uncle Bills pancake house, Donuts from Brown’s, Johnson’s Caramel Corn, Soft-serve at Kohr’s, Pizza from Prep’s/Mack & Manco’s, and the Polish Water Ice… Unreal! This is a dangerous trip… but to give you a hint of how great the food really is, my sister and bro-in-law named their dog “Manco” after the second best pizza place on the island (I’ve always been a fan of the Prep’s pie)… 

-Lex

@lexwllllams